rulings granted to U.S. multinationals by Ireland, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg were principally designed to achieve U.S. tax deferral and not EU tax avoidance. Adverse BEPS effects within the European Union would be immaterial in comparison to the deferral of U.S. tax on residual IPrelated profits, and would have occurred primarily in countries other than those charged with the granting of unlawful State aid. The Irish, Dutch, and Luxembourgish treasuries have not foregone tax revenues in favor of the U.S. multinationals they allegedly aided, which is a requirement for a finding of prohibited State aid. However, the conduct of these low-tax EU States, which enables the deferral of U.S. tax and facilitates the accumulation of financial capital withinthe European Union may benefit such countries possibly at the expense of other EU Member States, and can therefore be viewed as a form of tax competition that is questionable in light of the EU Code of Conduct. Conversely, if the retroactive State aid charges were to prevail, the U.S. Treasury would forfeit its claim over unrepatriated earnings of U.S. multinationals. The significant tax policy implications for both Europe and the United States resulting from the State aid decisions by the EU Commission are explored here in detail.


Oshá (Ligusticum porteri), found in high elevation sites in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, is a medicinal plant whose roots are being sold by herbal product companies to treat influenza, bronchitis, and sore throat. Oshá and other medicinal plants have a long history of use within Indigenous communities, fifteen tribes are documented using oshá and those uses are practiced today and more tribes likely use oshá, especially in and near the range of the plant. Historically and today, tribes such as the Apache, Pueblo, Navajo, Zuni, White Mountain Apache, Southern Ute, Lakota, and the Tarahumara in Mexico used oshá to treat ailments such as to treat colds, flu, upper respiratory infection, and diarrhea and gastrointestinal problems. Another use of root is to repel snakes if one carries the root with them. Oshá is commonly referred to as bear root by Native American tribes because bears have been observed using and interacting with the root. Oshá is also considered sacred to some tribes and it is used outside its native range by hundreds of miles by the Comanche, Plains, Apache, and Lakota tribes. Interviews conducted with tribal elders, a Hispanic elder, U.S. Forest Service officials, and an herbal product company owner help to make suggestions for U.S. Forest Service policies, such as co-management strategies for medicinal plants like oshá. This paper also examines the potential areas of collaboration between Native tribes and current U.S. Forest Service policies to create future Native American focused policies and strengthen future relationships.


Humans and animals learn much better when the examples are not randomly presented but organized in a meaningful order which illustrates gradually more concepts, and gradually more complex ones. Here, we formalize such training strategies in the context of machine learning, and call them "curriculum learning". In the context of recent research studying the difficulty of training in the presence of non-convex training criteria (for deep deterministic and stochastic neural networks), we explore curriculum learning in various set-ups. The experiments show that significant improvements in generalization can be achieved. We hypothesize that curriculum learning has both an effect on the speed of convergence of the training process to a minimum and, in the case of non-convex criteria, on the quality of the local minima obtained: curriculum learning can be seen as a particular form of continuation method (a general strategy for global optimization of non-convex functions).


The Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) protocol is being adopted for use in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as the primary source of information for emerging multi-UAV collision avoidance algorithms. The lack of security features in ADS-B leaves any processes dependent upon the information vulnerable to a variety of threats from compromised and dishonest UAVs. This could result in substantial losses or damage to properties. This research proposes a new distance-bounding scheme for verifying the distance and flight trajectory in the ADS-B packets from surrounding UAVs. The proposed scheme enables UAVs or ground stations to identify dishonest UAVs and avoid collisions. The scheme was implemented and tested in the SITL (Software In The Loop) simulator to verify its ability to detect dishonest UAVs. The experiments showed that the scheme achieved the desired accuracy in both flight trajectory measurement and attack detection.


We consider the problem of testing positively dependent multiple hypotheses, assuming that prior information about the dependence structure is available. We propose two-step multiple comparisons procedures that exploit the prior information of the dependence structure, without relying on strong assumptions. In the first step, we group the tests into subsets where tests are supposed to be positively dependent and in each of which we compute a summary statistic that is associated with a subset p-value. Given the subset scores or equivalently the subsets p-values, a first screening is applied at a predefined threshold, which results in two types of subsets. Based on this typing, the original single test p-values are modified such that they can be used in conjunction with any multiple comparison procedure. We show by means of different simulation that power is gained with the proposed two-step methods, and compare it with traditional multiple comparison procedures. We discuss as well the possible extensions of the proposed strategy. As an illustration, our method is applied on real data comparing topological differences between two groups of human brain networks.


Cattle, sheep and goat were domesticated in the Near-East during the 9th millennium BC. From there, sheep and goat, which had no wild ancestors in Europe, were introduced to this continent at the beginning of the 7th millennium B.C. and diffused following two main flows: a southern route along the northern coastline of the Mediterranean, and a northern route across central Europe following the Danubian corridor. Possible scenarios of migration have been complicated to investigate regarding cattle, as the species had a possible wild ancestor in Europe: the local aurochs, whose disappearance only occurred at the end of the 17th century A.D. and whose remains are hardly distinguishable from those of the early domestic forms on the basis of classical osteometry. A tight cooperation between Archaeozoology and Genetics has provided, in the frame of several publicly funded projects (among which the OMLL scheme), substantial new data allowing refinement of historical scenarios to a degree never achieved thus far. We were able to demonstrate that local aurochs did not contribute, or contributed to a very limited extent, to the constitution of European domestic cattle herds, whose origin can be clearly traced back to the Near East. Thus, from this point of view, domestic cattle biogeographical history is very similar to sheep and goat, and their appearance in Europe probably owes more to farming pioneers than to local hunter-gatherers. Analyses of goat aDNA revealed the preservation of an important genetic diversity very far from the diffusion centre. This is suggestive of the persistence of gene flow between domestic herds across the dispersion area along the different diffusion routes, which prevented the occurrence of severe bottleneck effects. This diversity also indicates that the existence of contacts between farming groups encompassed very large areas. It is very interesting to note that recent works published on domestication and diffusion of pig in Neolithic Europe have proposed very different scenarios. This highlights the specificity of domestic bovids as tracers of human contacts, exchanges and displacements during the Neolithicisation of Europe.


Background The δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol-cannabidiol (THC-CBD) oromucosal spray (Sativex) is a standardised cannabinoid based medicine for add on treatment of resistant multiple sclerosis (MS) induced spasticity. Purpose To evaluate the use of oromucosal spray Sativex in terms of efficacy for symptoms and functional impairment associated with resistant MS induced spasticity and safety according to type of MS. Material and methods A retrospective cohort study was conducted in a university hospital in South Spain in patients who commenced Sativex between March 2015 and November 2015. Data were retrieved from the electronic medical records (Diraya) and the dispensing programme for outpatient (Farmatools). Patients were classified by type of MS: relapsing remitting (RR), primary progressive (PP) and secondary progressive (SP). Evaluation was performed on day 0 and day 60 of treatment with Sativex. The Modified Ashworth Scale was used for grading spasticity where 'improvement' was defined as >20% deviation from baseline. Results 14 patients were included. 4 (28.6%) were men with a median (IQR) age of 47.5 years (37–69). Types of MS were: 10 (71.4%) RR, 1 (7.1%) PP and 3 (21.4%) SP. The overall response, defined as 'improvement' to Sativex, was 9 (64.3%) and by type of MS: 6/10 (60%) RR, 1/1 (100%) PP and 2/3 (66.7%) SP. Only 1 patient (7.1%) discontinued treatment due to drug related adverse events. 2 additional patient were treated with Sativex but excluded from this analysis due to a diagnose different from MS. Conclusion In our cohort, oromucosal spray Sativex was a well tolerated drug and an effective alternative for the management of resistant MS induced spasticity. As for MS type subgroup analysis, a greater sample size is needed for more robust conclusions. No conflict of interest


Chronic pain related to musculoskeletal conditions is the leading cause of medical discharge from active duty military service. The present study is the first randomized controlled trial of an interdisciplinary pain treatment program (functional restoration, FR) to decrease chronic musculoskeletal pain and increase functioning in an active duty military population. Sixty-six military participants were randomly assigned to either an FR treatment group or a standard anesthesia pain clinic treatment comparison group. A repeated measures design was employed and data were analyzed for pre- to post-treatment differences, as well as for 6-months and 1-year post-treatment outcomes. Findings revealed significantly greater improvements for the FR group on self-reported pain, disability, functional status, and fitness for military duty at the post-treatment and follow-up points, relative to the comparison group. These results clearly demonstrate the efficacy and military relevance of a FR program for active duty military personnel who have chronic musculoskeletal pain disorders.


The purpose of this study is to describe the clinical and prognostic features and to evaluate the outcome of different therapeutic approaches among patients with blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN) who have been diagnosed and treated in different institutions. A total of 398 patients from 75 centers were included in the study. Treatment consisted of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL)-like regimens in 129 (32.8%) patients and acute leukemia (AL)-like regimens in 113 (23.5%) patients. In 61 (15.5%) and 16 (4.1%) patients, chemotherapy was followed by allogeneic and autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), respectively. Twenty-seven (6.9%) patients received radiotherapy, 6 (1.5%) received new agents, and 62 (15.7%) received palliative care. After a median follow-up of 12 months, median overall survival (OS) was 18 months. Patients who received NHL/AL-like regimens, followed by allogeneic HSCT, had the best outcome; median OS was not reached. OS was 65 months for patients who underwent autologous HSCT; 18 months and 14 months, respectively, for those treated with AL-like and NHL-like regimens without consolidation; and 4 months for those receiving palliative care (P < .001). In BPDCN, chemotherapy with lymphoma- or AL-like regimens, followed by transplantation, represents the therapeutic strategy associated with the best outcome. Consolidation with allogeneic HSCT, when feasible, appears superior to autologous HSCT.


Three-dimensional tissue constructs have been proposed as in vitro screening models for ocular irritancy. Based on our previous studies, in which a full-thickness corneal model based exclusively on SV40-immortalised cell lines was generated, we have currently evaluated the effects of a range of commercially-available cell culture media on several cellular parameters in cultures of a human corneal epithelial (HCE) cell line. This cell line was used in an attempt to establish a rational basis for the development of serum-free culture media for the assembly and long-term tissue culture of full-thickness corneal models. Briefly, we investigated the impact of serum-free culture on the proliferation, morphology, barrier function and cytokine expression of HCE cells. The number of cell layers and the epithelial differentiation were evaluated by histology. Barrier properties were characterised via the determination of transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER), fluorescein permeation, and the expression of the tight junction-related protein, zona occludin 1 (ZO-1). The cytokine expression pattern in response to serum-free culture was measured by using an antibody array system. Our results revealed that both the morphology and the barrier function of the epithelial constructs were comparable to those of human donor corneas, when serum-free media were supplemented with ascorbic acid, calcium, hydrocortisone and retinoic acid. Under these conditions, the artificial epithelium based on serum-free HCE cultures represented a valid model for the natural ocular surface.


Uranium has been mined in this area of southeastern Wyoming from poorly consolidated sandstone units in the Eocene Wind River Formation, under conditions made difficult by loose ground and abundant water. Mineralization and ore lie mostly along the periphery of tongues of altered sand, recognized by greenish to rusty color. The major tongue is as much as 70 feet thick, hundreds of feet across, and several miles long. The best ore occurs on geochemical fronts, or rolls, at terminal edges of the altered zones and on their upper and lower surfaces. This concept has been successfully applied to exploration drilling, mining projection, and reserve estimates.


We introduce the Automatic Learning for the Rapid Classification of Events (ALeRCE) broker, an astronomical alert broker designed to provide a rapid and self-consistent classification of large etendue telescope alert streams, such as that provided by the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) and, in the future, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). ALeRCE is a Chilean-led broker run by an interdisciplinary team of astronomers and engineers working to become intermediaries between survey and follow-up facilities. ALeRCE uses a pipeline that includes the real-time ingestion, aggregation, cross-matching, machine-learning (ML) classification, and visualization of the ZTF alert stream. We use two classifiers: a stamp-based classifier, designed for rapid classification, and a light curve–based classifier, which uses the multiband flux evolution to achieve a more refined classification. We describe in detail our pipeline, data products, tools, and services, which are made public for the community (see https://alerce.science). Since we began operating our real-time ML classification of the ZTF alert stream in early 2019, we have grown a large community of active users around the globe. We describe our results to date, including the real-time processing of 1.5 × 108 alerts, the stamp classification of 3.4 × 107 objects, the light-curve classification of 1.1 × 106 objects, the report of 6162 supernova candidates, and different experiments using LSST-like alert streams. Finally, we discuss the challenges ahead in going from a single stream of alerts such as ZTF to a multistream ecosystem dominated by LSST.


Lawyers use a lot of quotations in their writing. And judges are lawyers who are just as enamored with quotations in their writing as the rest of us. So it often turns out that the best quotation for a proposition is one in which a judge has quoted some other judge, and there's a good chance that judge was quoting yet another.The Bluebook dictates how to cite the original source of quoted material, how to indicate that the quotation contains a quotation, and how to show any alterations to the immediate source or the original source. But once the quotation contains a quotation, the Bluebook rules often mean that good quotes quickly acquire a significant amount of citation baggage that makes it difficult to use them without significantly distracting from the author's point or increasing the author's work for little substantive gain. The paper proposes that legal writers discard all that baggage and adopt a new parenthetical, "(cleaned up)," to tell readers that they have removed extraneous material for readability and guarantee that nothing removed was important.


Objective-  To study the effect of digit amputation on animal survival, and distribution of lesions on limbs, days in milk and parity in operated cows.
Design- Retrospective descriptive study.
Animals- Thirteen cows in a dairy herd consisting 1100 lactating Holstein cows.
Procedures- Digit amputation by using a loop wire after inducing local intravenous anesthesia.
Results- Digits of 13 cows were amputated during the period of study. Most amputations were done in hindlimbs. The average of parity during surgery was 3.3 that were higher from the average of parity in the herd (2.9). Eight cases were recorded in the third or less parities and 5 cases in fourth or more parity. The average of days in milk for all amputated cow is 180.72 ± 136.18 days that in 5 cases it was recorded under 100 DIM  and 8 cases is over 100 days. Six out of 13 cows (46.15 %) were survived at least one year after surgery and 7 cows (53.85%) were culled after amputation. The main reason for culling in 2 (28.57%) cases was infertility but in other five (71.43%) was complications of the lameness. The average time to culling after surgery in culled animals recorded as 131 days.
Conclusion and Clinical Relevance- Regards to the results, digit amputation can extend lifespan of cows with some incurable digital diseases. Digit amputation may consider as a salvage method in dairy farms. Some factors like the time of surgery, surgical technique and extent of the lesions may affect the outcomes.


Abinales, Patricio N. (ed), The Revolution Falters: The Left in Philippine Politics After 1986 (Ithaca: Cornell University Southeast Asian Program Publications, 1996). The book brings together academics of various nationalities with diverse areas of specialization but united by a common interest in Philippine Left politics. To arrive at a more nuanced examination of the causes of the current crisis, each author analyzes particular aspects of the phenomenon from the viewpoint of his/her area focus. The collection challenges the reader to seek a deeper and far reaching understanding of the different aspects of Left politics and the communist movement that, hopefully, would not merely satisfy academic curiosity but, more inform and guide praxis.


The aim of the study was to establish how non-prescription medicine (NPM) dependence is treated by doctors in specialist substance misuse treatment services and to identify perceived barriers to providing treatment. An online survey was conducted to establish current practice and whether changes to service provision are needed to facilitate treatment (n = 83). Semi-structured interviews, based on the Theoretical Domains Framework, were conducted to derive a detailed exploration of suggested changes (n = 11). Most survey respondents had encountered cases of NPM dependence. Analgesics containing codeine were the most frequently NPMs of dependence mentioned by respondents. Most respondents were unaware of specific guidelines for the treatment of NPM dependence. The most frequently identified barriers to providing treatment identified by interviewees were limited resources or capacity and the challenges presented by this client group. There was a perception that this client group could be difficult to treat due to comorbidities, and these this client group perceived themselves to be different from people dependent on alcohol or illicit drugs. This study identified a clear need for specific clinical guidelines for the treatment of NPM dependence. Such guidance should be appropriate for specialist and generalist clinicians as the current pressure on resources may force more treatment into general practice. Appropriate care pathways need to be established and defined, and sufficient resources allocated to accommodate this client group.


Many South American countries in the last two decades experienced significant political and social changes, embracing representative liberal democracy and the global market after having lived through relatively long dictatorship periods. After escaping from the tentacles of the military generals (1964-1985), which kept the country tied to an old economic model of state intervention and to a weak form of political institutionalisation with fragile freedom of expression, Brazil reduced the role of the state, diving into the waters of the market. At a first glance, the contemporary scenario seems to invite only optimism: the market permitted stronger governmental accountability and a means of safeguarding citizens from corruption. Political democracy was also consolidated, with full competitive and free elections held regularly. Certain groups of civil society players were included in the mainstream arena and a relative degree of press independence and freedom was achieved due to political democratisation and market expansion. The contemporary years nonetheless have been highly contradictory, with the market and the state and the various societal spheres being overwhelmed in tensions.


This paper is based on research funded by the World Health Organisation, the International Council of
Nurses and the Royal College of Nursing of the United Kingdom. Whilst the primary focus is on the UK,
general lessons related to international recruitment and migration of nurses are also highlighted.
There is general agreement amongst all stakeholders in the UK that nursing shortages have become a major
factor constraining health care delivery in the National Health Service in the UK. In order to overcome
these skills shortages, four areas of government initiative are underway: attracting more applicants to nurse education; encouraging returners to nursing employment; improving retention through improved career
structures and flexible working practices; and recruiting nurses from abroad. NHS Plan targets for increased staffing have been one major factor in focusing attention on international recruitment.
There has been a significant growth in the level on inflow of nurses from other countries to the UK.
Registration data on annual admissions of nurses from non-UK sources shows a fivefold increase since the
early 1990s. In 2000/01 a total of 9,694 initial entrants on the UK Register were from all overseas sources.
This figure has risen to approximately 15,000 in 2001/02, which equates to almost half of all new nurses
entering the UK Register in the year.
Registration data highlights that a total of more than 30,000 new non-UK nurses have registered in the UK
in the last three years. The Philippines, South Africa and Australia have been the main sources.
The trend in significant growth of recruitment of nurses from non-EU countries has not been matched by
any growth in inflow from the countries of the European Union. In recent years the EU has reduced in
significance as a source of nurses entering the UK.
The Department of Health in England issued guidance on ethical international recruitment practices in 1999
requiring NHS employers to avoid direct recruitment from designated countries such as South Africa and
the West Indies. Registration data suggests that the 1999 guidelines may have had some short-term impact
in reducing recruitment from South Africa and the Caribbean, but that this recruitment activity may have
then been displaced to other developing countries. The Department has issued a strengthened Code for
international recruitment in late 2001.
The pull factor of meeting NHS Plan staffing targets is likely to mean that the UK, particularly England,
will continue to be active in recruiting from international nursing labour markets, partly as a result of new
targets having been set for 2008. UK government policy initiatives to increase the number of nursing
students, and to improve retention and return rates, can have a positive effect. However, the growth in the
number of UK nurses who can retire is likely to challenge the capacity of the NHS to retain the required
numbers of nurses. When coupled with the likelihood of liberalisation of global labour markets, this points
to a continuing high profile for the UK in international nursing labour markets.


Kaiser Wilhelm II, Queen Victoria's eldest grandchild, took over the running of the powerful German Reich from Bismarck and within a couple of decades had led it into world war and collapse. How did the Kaiser come to have so much power? Why was there no one to help him steer a less disastrous course? This book analyses these crucial questions with the help of a wealth of new archival sources. The book begins with a character-sketch of the Kaiser which provides new and alarming insights into his personality. It then looks, crucially, at the Kaiser's friends and favourites, the neo-absolutist culture of the court and of Berlin court society, and at the nature of his relationship with the court on the one hand and with the administrative 'pyramid' in Prussia and the Reich on the other. The book makes clear that these bureaucrats and diplomats had neither the means nor the will to oppose the overwhelming determination of the Kaiser and his close friends and advisers in directing the policies of the most dynamic and volatile state in Europe. The dangerous consequences of this situation led to the brink of world war as early as December 1912. A final chapter reveals for the first time the appalling extent and nature of the exiled Kaiser's anti-semitism.


The thesis focuses on the problem of conflicts of interest's exploitation between investment firms and their retail clients in the provision of investment services in light of the new European rules of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (Directive 2004/39/EC) and its level-2 measures (Commission Directive 2006/73/EC and Commission Regulation 1287/2006) - collectively, 'MiFID' - as interpreted by CESR's recommendations. I analyse MiFID from a cost-efficient point of view, and seek to answer the question whether such regulation addresses the problem identified in a way that the costs it entails are offset by its benefits, where the same benefits cannot be otherwise achieved at a lower cost. Intuitively, from Intuitively, from the point of view of investors, the more rights they are granted, the 'better' the regulation is; nevertheless, the same cannot be held from a cost-efficient point of view. A regulation which accords overprotection to some investors does not add anything to their protection, while clearly adding to the intermediaries' costs of compliance, which firms might well spill onto investors. Moreover, overprotection in the field of investment services adds to the costs from another point of view: since it risks hampering the fast and smooth flow of resources for the financing of businesses, it might constrain the efficient allocation of economic resource. I evaluate MiFID in light of the libertarian paternalistic approach to regulation, which can accommodate for the existence of different players on the market and for the biases and limits of the regulator as well. Under this approach the regulation should embed both libertarian and paternalistic components, and make them interact in a way that the rules are able to correct the mistakes of the biased players (minimise the costs of errors) while less than proportionally increasing the possibility that rational players are hindered from taking the right decisions (minimise the costs of the missed right decisions), net of the implementation costs. I also read MiFID in light of the findings as to the best (value maximising) balance between rules and standards l he tightening of the provisions appears to be a normal development of any regulation: the more an area of law becomes established, and the more the volume of litigation increases, the more it is cost-efficient to bear the fixed cost of devising a detailed regulation Nevertheless, if the rate of obsolescence of a regulation, the complexity of the legal environment and the cost of coordination of the new rules with the previous ones are high, the adoption of rules becomes too costly, as compared to its benefits. I find that MiFID adopts a quite paternalistic approach, which leaves it in the hands of intermediaries to surrogate for investors' decisions. This is set as the default rule for a considerable vast number of investors, not all of which are likely to share the same need for protection. Where it features a more libertarian approach -and in particular where it aims at bringing investors' informed consent in the foreground - two failures can be detected. First, MiFID seems wary as to the 'type' of the clients on the market: it assumes the existence of, sometimes, rational - albeit asymmetrically informed - investors; sometimes, boundedly rational investors. Clearly, the same measure cannot serve both. Second, a close analysis of the detailed rules which aim at emphasising clients' consent shows that, in reality, investors are given little possibility to truly understand -and consent to – transactions. I also find that the regulation only limitedly leaves open the possibility to opt-out from the mandatory system, and to thereby compensate its failures. This is not to say that MiFID does not mark a progress as compared to its, forerunner, the Investment Services Directive, of which I also give account. Financial markets are a lively and evolving environment, which currently present some distinctive trends: the increasing substitutability of products sold by intermediaries, and the spreading out of distance means of communication, above all. In light of these trends, I also verify whether MiFID, together with other pieces of regulation (mainly related to UCHS and insurance products), are adequate to protect clients against conflicts of interests exploitation. On this matter I find that, were it not for important national responses, some potentials for exploitation would be left 'uncovered' the current interaction among different pieces of regulation. Some works still need to be accomplished: the European regulation should increase the pace at which it gives response to the innovations related to the products and the marketing techniques: they are needed in order to ensure integrated markets which are safe and sound for investors who rely on intermediaries to circulate their resources.


Introduction. Part I: Developing a Web Database Application Using PHP and MySQL. Chapter 1: Introduction to PHP and MySQL. Chapter 2: Setting Up Your Work Environment. Chapter 3: Developing a Web Database Application. Part II: MySQL Database. Chapter 4: Building the Database. Chapter 5: Protecting Your Data. Part III: PHP. Chapter 6: General PHP. Chapter 7: PHP Building Blocks for Programs. Chapter 8: Data In, Data Out. Chapter 9: Moving Information from One Web Page to the Next. Part IV: Applications. Chapter 10: Putting It All Together. Chapter 11: Building an Online Catalog. Chapter 12: Building a Members Only Web Site. Part V: The Part of Tens. Chapter 13: Ten Things You Might Want to Do Using PHP Functions. Chapter 14: Ten PHP Gotchas. Part VI: Appendixes. Appendix A: Installing MySQL. Appendix B: Installing PHP. Appendix C: Installing and Configuring Apache. Index.


The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale--Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV) is by the far the most popular intelligence test for the assessment of adults in clinical and neuropsychological practice. Despite a number of studies examining the factor structure of the WAIS-IV from a Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) perspective (Benson, Hulac, & Kranzler, 2010; Ward, Bergman, & Hebert, 2012), a CHC interpretation of the WAIS-IV for individuals ages 70 and above has been absent from the literature. The exclusion of individuals ages 70 and above in previous research is likely due to the absence of several key supplemental subtests used to create a full CHC model. We provide an alternative five-factor CHC model of the WAIS-IV which includes only the subtests administered to individuals ages 70 and above in the standardization sample. Our results show (a) the alternative CHC model fits the data well; (b) this alternative CHC model met criteria for partial strict measurement invariance across the life span (only Similarities showed noninvariance) using strict criteria; (c) the five factors for ages 70-90 measure the same five CHC broad abilities identified in previous analyses reported for ages 16-69; and (d) the five-factor CHC solution for ages 70-90 is valid for the entire WAIS-IV age range and can be used whenever examiners administer the core battery but opt not to administer supplemental subtests.


Software testing evaluates the correctness of a program's implementation through a test suite. The quality of a test case or suite is assessed with a coverage metric indicating what percentage of a program's structure was exercised (covered) during execution. Coverage of every execution path is impossible due to infeasible paths and loops that result in an exponential or infinite number of paths. Instead, metrics such as the number of statements (nodes) or control-flow branches covered are used.
Node and branch coverage require instrumentation probes to be present during program runtime. Traditionally, probes were statically inserted during compilation. These static probes remain even after coverage is recorded, incurring unnecessary overhead, reducing the number of tests that can be run, or requiring large amounts of memory.
In this dissertation, I present three novel techniques for improving branch and node coverage performance for the Java runtime. First, Demand-driven Structural Testing (DDST) uses dynamic insertion and removal of probes so they can be removed after recording coverage, avoiding the unnecessary overhead of static instrumentation. DDST is built on a new framework for developing and researching coverage techniques, Jazz. DDST for node coverage averages 19.7% faster than statically-inserted instrumentation on an industry-standard benchmark suite, SPECjvm98.
Due to DDST's higher-cost probes, no single branch coverage technique performs best on all programs or methods. To address this, I developed Hybrid Structural Testing (HST). HST combines different test techniques, including static and DDST, into one run. HST uses a cost model for analysis, reducing the cost of branch coverage testing an average of 48% versus Static and 56% versus DDST on SPECjvm98.
HST never chooses certain techniques due to expensive analysis. I developed a third technique, Test Plan Caching (TPC), that exploits the inherent repetition in testing over a suite. TPC saves analysis results to avoid recomputation. Combined with HST, TPC produces a mix of techniques that record coverage quickly and efficiently.
My three techniques reduce the average cost of branch coverage by 51.6–90.8% over previous approaches on SPECjvm98, allowing twice as many test cases in a given time budget.


This work establishes distribution-free upper and lower bounds on the minimax label complexity of active learning with general hypothesis classes, under various noise models. The results reveal a number of surprising facts. In particular, under the noise model of Tsybakov (2004), the minimax label complexity of active learning with a VC class is always asymptotically smaller than that of passive learning, and is typically significantly smaller than the best previously-published upper bounds in the active learning literature. In high-noise regimes, it turns out that all active learning problems of a given VC dimension have roughly the same minimax label complexity, which contrasts with well-known results for bounded noise. In low-noise regimes, we find that the label complexity is well-characterized by a simple combinatorial complexity measure we call the star number. Interestingly, we find that almost all of the complexity measures previously explored in the active learning literature have worst-case values exactly equal to the star number. We also propose new active learning strategies that nearly achieve these minimax label complexities.


Social life is changing very fast. People are trying to find out reasons of living in a safe society and understand their role in it. The 'wrong' and 'right' models of the social life, state and law systems are appearing. In the XXth century, one of them – socialism – made suggestion how to solve social problems, determinated of capitalism. This work deals with the situation of Lithuanian social thought in the Republic of Lithuania (1900-1940). In the article, the standpoint of catholics of socialism is reflected. Catholics displayed socialism as a system, which accumulated many distorted images about human nature, motivations of human behavior, society and its functionating. Considering the society being an organic totality of individuals, but not a faceless mass, and an individual being a personality having natural rights to be respected, but not considered as a little screw without any rights in the state machine, with whom any experiments may be performed, they disclosed Utopia of the idea, proposed by socialists, of the possibility of a perfect society creation by the only preliminarily arranged correct plan,. For this purpose to be achieved, they constructed a model of socialist economy and then destroyed it, demonstrating economical unefficiency of this system. In this manner, intellectuals warned Lithuania and its people about the destructiveness of the realization of such an experiment. In spite of criticism of socialism, some intellectuals, such as A. Maceina, S. Sultė and S. Salkauskis, appeared to be rather respective to the new social ideas and did not distinguish any social economic system as the best and only one. They thought that all the world, including Lithuania, has to create a new social life and take as a base the progressive ideas of socialism and capitalism. According to the opinion of the catholics, the most reliable way to a safe society and economical welfare passes through the cooperation of individuals and state's duty to create right laws. Ideological spirit was the main obstacle for the intellectuals to recognize trends of socialism by their aims and methods. That is the reason, why socialism was identified as bolsevism. However, the expression of the intellectuals' opinion about socialism, its ideological herritage and perspectives enriches the research of the Lithuanian legal phylosophical and political thought and allows to understand better the ideological development of socialism and to define its competence and limits of validity in the contemporary world. Valuable ideas may be fruitfully used in creating a democratic society, social state and the rule of law.


Since the autumn of 1997, the Bank of Canada's regional offices (located in Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, Calgary, and Vancouver) have conducted consultations with businesses across Canada on a quarterly basis. These consultations are now referred to as the Business Outlook Survey (BOS). The BOS provides a timely source of information on what businesses are experiencing and planning. Business consultations are timed to feed into the decision-making process that precedes the Bank's fixed dates for announcing monetary policy decisions. The consultations are structured around a questionnaire. Every quarter, 100 firms that reflect the diverse composition of the Canadian economy in terms of region, type of business activity, and firm size are interviewed. Because the BOS is a relatively new tool, the survey time series is short. The assessment presented in this paper, which is based on charts and correlations, is intended as an initial guide. The findings suggest that the survey serves as a barometer of the Canadian economy and provides leading signals of future activity. The interview responses also inform the Bank about production-capacity constraints, labour shortages, and inflation expectations.


The logic of bunched implications, BI, provides a logical analysis of a basic notion of resource that is rich enough, for example, to form the logical basis for 'pointer logic' and 'separation logic' semantics for programs that manipulate mutable data structures. We develop a theory of semantic tableaux for BI, so providing an elegant basis for efficient theorem proving tools for BI. It is based on the use of an algebra of labels for BI's tableaux to solve the resource-distribution problem, the labels being the elements of resource models. For BI with inconsistency, $\bot$, the challenge consists in dealing with BI's Grothendieck topological models within such a proof-search method, based on labels. We prove soundness and completeness theorems for a resource tableaux method TBI with respect to this semantics and provide a way to build countermodels from so-called dependency graphs. Then, from these results, we can define a new resource semantics of BI, based on partially defined monoids, and prove that this semantics is complete. Such a semantics, based on partiality, is closely related to the semantics of BI's (intuitionistic) pointer and separation logics. Returning to the tableaux calculus, we propose a new version with liberalised rules for which the countermodels are closely related to the topological Kripke semantics of BI. As consequences of the relationships between semantics of BI and resource tableaux, we prove two new strong results for propositional BI: its decidability and the finite model property with respect to topological semantics.


This study has investigated the role of institutions, their efficiency and effectiveness in the property development process in Uganda. The role of real property development in economic growth and development is well acknowledged especially industrial, commercial and residential properties that are key catalysts to accelerated economic growth and development. In particular, for a developing country like Uganda to be able to absorb the huge direct capital inflow and take full advantage of the rapidly unfolding globalisation process, the necessary infrastructure has to be in place and functioning. However, the dearth of such infrastructure in Uganda, as in many developing countries, and Sub-Saharan Africa in particular is well acknowledged, and can be argued to hinder economic growth and development because of the known 'bottleneck' effects on the economy. Nevertheless, the postulation of this study is that for an effective property development process to take root in Uganda, the necessary institutions must be developed and nurtured. To this effect, a survey method of investigation was employed to ascertain both primary and secondary data, along with information on the state of the real property industry in Uganda so as to critically evaluate the role of stakeholders, including financial, government, professional institutions and private entrepreneurs involved in real property development in Uganda. A case study was conducted in Kampala, which is the Capital and hub of economic activities and where most of the institutions reside. In addition, structured interviews were conducted with legal institutions, as well as some key individuals within the public and private sector domain. The findings revealed that the process of real property development is very rudimentary. In most cases, private and public property developments occur on an incremental basis, which apart from the effects on demand by suppressing it, has a wider negative impact on developing the construction and property industry and entrepreneurial skills, and having a knock-on effect on the evolution of effective property institutions. This scenario is exemplified by the stop-go approach to real property development in Uganda as in other developing countries. In the absence of indigenous capacity, foreign construction and property multinational companies have filled the void but due to the very limited skills sourced and developed locally, relatively little managerial and technical skills are transferred to the local property entrepreneurial class. Thus, the need to identify not only the role that institutions play in real property development, but to also explore such a role within the context of a developing country like Uganda is seen as a necessary prerequisite to its economic growth and development. Hence, this study aims to identify those institutions that are vital to the process of real property development in developing countries such as Uganda, and a strategy has been proposed by which policy can evolve and sequenced, leading to the development and functioning of such institutions.


Beginning design students frequently view architectural design as a process that culminates with a built structure, which is often regarded as transient and ultimately disposable after serving its original intentions. As educators, how might we effectively alter student perceptions and propose new attitudes towards the built environment, with specific attention given to structural principles and their relationship to architectural design, that question the concept of finite and encourage a thought process that is fluid, organic, and adaptable? This paper examines the work of second-year architecture students who were presented with an opportunity to think and adaptively respond to learned lessons from failure throughout the design process as part of their initial studies into structural principles and concepts.


The origin and consequences to laser performance of blue emission observed in some Raman crystals has been studied in detail, leading us to attribute the origin of the phenomenon to fluorescence from Tm3+(1G4) impurity ions which are excited via sequential upconversion. For the specific case of a Nd:YLF/KGW Raman laser, we show that the blue fluorescence has modest but significant impacts on laser performance and thermal loading. If the blue fluorescence was eliminated, then laser efficiency could be increased by 15% and thermal loading in the KGW crystal reduced by 17%.


Regulators and competition authorities often prevent firms with significant market power or dominant firms from practicing price discrimination. The goal of such an asymmetric no- discrimination constraint is to encourage entry and serve consumers' interests. This constraint prohibits the firm with significant market power to practice both behaviour-based price discrimination within the competitive segment and third-degree price discrimination across the monopolistic and competitive segments. We find that this constraint hinders entry and reduces welfare when the monopolistic segment is small.


. As more organizations and businesses in different sectors are moving to a digital transformation, there is a steady increase in malware, facing data theft or service interruptions caused by cyberattacks on network or application that impact their customer experience. Bot and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks consistently challenge every industry relying on the internet. In this paper, we focus on Machine Learning techniques to detect DDoS attack in network communication flows using continuous learning algorithm that learns the normal pattern of network traffic, behavior of the network protocols and identify a compromised network flow. Detection of DDoS attack will help the network ad-ministrators to take immediate action and mitigate the impact of such attacks. DDoS attacks are costing enterprises anywhere between $50,000 to $2.3 million per year. We performed experiments with Intrusion Detection Evaluation Dataset (CICIDS2017) available from Canadian Institute for Cybersecurity to detect anomalies in network traffic. We use flow based traffic characteristics to analyze the difference in pattern between normal vs anomaly packet. We evaluate several supervised classification algorithms using metrics like maximum detection accuracy, lowest false negatives prediction, time taken to train and run. We prove that decision tree based Random Forest is the most promising algorithm whereas Dense Neural network performs equally well on certain DDoS types but require more samples to improve the accuracy of low sampled attacks.


The intestinal tract microbiota – microbial community of the gut – is an important field in microbiology not only because of its critical role in the host development, but also increasingly large number of diseases are associated with certain state of the gut microbiota. The community structure and function of the gut microbiota is relatively well studied in humans and related higher vertebrates, but is severely understudied in fish. This is especially true for the coral reef fishes, who constitute the most diverse assemblage of vertebrates spread over a very local scale, and are essential for the resilience of the reefs. In order to bridge this gap in knowledge, this dissertation studied the community structure, interactions and functions of the gut microbial community from the surgeonfishes in the Red Sea – with special focus on the surgeonfish enteric symbiont Epulopiscium spp. Initially, I studied the composition of the gut microbiota of nine surgeonfish and three nonsurgeonfish species from the Red Sea using 454 pyrosequencing. Upon discovering the high abundance of Epulopiscium spp. in herbivorous surgeonfishes, I then proceeded to identify their phylogenetic diversity, distribution, as well as deducing their coevolutionary relationship with the host. Because Epulopiscium spp. undergo substantial changes in the cell size (grow up to ~600μm) and the DNA concentration (from 85 to over 250pg per cell) throughout their diel lifecycle, I also studied the temporal changes in their expression pattern using RNA-seq. Overall, this dissertation shed light on the complex structure, interaction and function of an important family of coral reef fish from the Red Sea through range of molecular techniques.


ABSTRACT The application of adenoviral vectors in cancer gene therapy is hampered by low receptor expression on tumor cells and high receptor expression on normal epithelial cells. Targeting adenoviral vectors toward tumor cells may improve cancer gene therapy procedures by providing augmented tumor transduction and decreased toxicity to normal tissues. Targeting requires both the complete abolition of native tropism and the addition of a new specific binding ligand onto the viral capsid. Here we accomplished this by using doubly ablated adenoviral vectors, lacking coxsackievirus-adenovirus receptor and αv integrin binding capacities, together with bispecific single-chain antibodies targeted toward human epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) or the epithelial cell adhesion molecule. These vectors efficiently and selectively targeted both alternative receptors on the surface of human cancer cells. Targeted doubly ablated adenoviral vectors were also very efficient and specific with primary human tumor specimens. With primary glioma cell cultures, EGFR targeting augmented the median gene transfer efficiency of doubly ablated adenoviral vectors 123-fold. Moreover, EGFR-targeted doubly ablated vectors were selective for human brain tumors versus the surrounding normal brain tissue. They transduced organotypic glioma and meningioma spheroids with efficiencies similar to those of native adenoviral vectors, while exhibiting greater-than-10-fold-reduced background levels on normal brain explants from the same patients. As a result, EGFR-targeted doubly ablated adenoviral vectors had a 5- to 38-fold-improved tumor-to-normal brain targeting index compared to native vectors. Hence, single-chain targeted doubly ablated adenoviral vectors are promising tools for cancer gene therapy. They should provide an improved therapeutic index with efficient tumor transduction and effective protection of normal tissue.


Objective: To examine the effects of 17 weeks of physical exercise and micronutrient supplementation on the psychological wellbeing of 139 independently living, frail, elderly subjects (inactive, body mass index ≤25 or experiencing weight loss). Methods: Participants (mean (SD) age 78.5 (5.7)) were randomly assigned to: (a) comprehensive, moderate intensity, group exercise; (b) daily micronutrient enriched foods (25–100% recommended daily amount); (c) both; (d) neither. A social programme and identical regular foods were offered as attention control and placebo. Results: At baseline, moderate to low but significant correlations were found between general wellbeing scores and physical fitness (r = 0.28), functional performance (r = 0.37), and blood concentrations of pyridoxine (r = 0.20), folate (r = 0.25), and vitamin D (r = 0.23) (all p values ≤0.02), but not with physical activity levels and other blood vitamin concentrations. General wellbeing score and self rated health were not responsive to 17 weeks of exercise or nutritional intervention. Conclusion: Psychological wellbeing in frail elderly people was not responsive to 17 weeks of intervention with exercise and/or micronutrient enriched foods. The moderate but significant correlations between wellbeing and physical fitness and several blood vitamin concentrations at baseline suggest that changes in wellbeing may occur after long term interventions.


OF THESIS IMPACT OF DIRECT-FED MICROBIALS ON NUTRIENT UTILIZATION IN BEEF CATTLE The impact of lactate producing direct-fed microbial (DFM) on growth performance and rumen fermentation in beef cattle was explored in four studies. Experiment 1 studied the interaction between DFM and degradable intake protein (DIP) supply in receiving cattle. No differences (P≥0.06) in intake, morbidity, or immune response were observed; however, during the first 28 d gain and efficiency responses to DFM were dependent on DIP (DIP×DFM P≤0.05). Experiment 2 showed that in vitro gas production and select endpoint metabolites differed (P≤0.04) with DFM application. Experiment 3 compared lactate producing DFM to a lactate producing/utilizing DFM in finishing cattle. No differences (P≥0.14) in intake, gain, efficiency, or carcass characteristics were observed between control and lactate DFM; however, gain and growth efficiency differed (P≤0.05) between the lactate producing and lactate producing/utilizing DFM during the later portions of feeding. Experiment 4 studied the impact of DFM on ruminal fermentation, lactate utilization, and total tract digestibility. Ruminal pH and molar proportions of acetate were increased (P≤0.05) with DFM; however, lactate utilization and total tract digestibility did not differ (P≥0.33). The studies suggest that DFM improve growth performance during receiving and responses are at least partly mediated through differences in ruminal fermentation.


Abstract. Understanding the sources and evolution of aerosols is crucial for constraining the impacts that aerosols have on a global scale. An unanswered question in atmospheric science is the source and evolution of the Antarctic aerosol population. Previous work over the continent has primarily utilized low temporal resolution aerosol filters to answer questions about the chemical composition of Antarctic aerosols. Bulk aerosol sampling has been useful in identifying seasonal cycles in the aerosol populations, especially in populations that have been attributed to Southern Ocean phytoplankton emissions. However, real-time, high-resolution chemical composition data are necessary to identify the mechanisms and exact timing of changes in the Antarctic aerosol. The recent 2ODIAC (2-Season Ozone Depletion and Interaction with Aerosols Campaign) field campaign saw the first ever deployment of a real-time, high-resolution aerosol mass spectrometer (SP-AMS – soot particle aerosol mass spectrometer – or AMS) to the continent. Data obtained from the AMS, and a suite of other aerosol, gas-phase, and meteorological instruments, are presented here. In particular, this paper focuses on the aerosol population over coastal Antarctica and the evolution of that population in austral spring. Results indicate that there exists a sulfate mode in Antarctica that is externally mixed with a mass mode vacuum aerodynamic diameter of 250 nm. Springtime increases in sulfate aerosol are observed and attributed to biogenic sources, in agreement with previous research identifying phytoplankton activity as the source of the aerosol. Furthermore, the total Antarctic aerosol population is shown to undergo three distinct phases during the winter to summer transition. The first phase is dominated by highly aged sulfate particles comprising the majority of the aerosol mass at low wind speed. The second phase, previously unidentified, is the generation of a sub-250 nm aerosol population of unknown composition. The second phase appears as a transitional phase during the extended polar sunrise. The third phase is marked by an increased importance of biogenically derived sulfate to the total aerosol population (photolysis of dimethyl sulfate and methanesulfonic acid (DMS and MSA)). The increased importance of MSA is identified both through the direct, real-time measurement of aerosol MSA and through the use of positive matrix factorization on the sulfur-containing ions in the high-resolution mass-spectral data. Given the importance of sub-250 nm particles, the aforementioned second phase suggests that early austral spring is the season where new particle formation mechanisms are likely to have the largest contribution to the aerosol population in Antarctica.


A four week study was conducted using 180 four weeks-old Abor acre broilers to determine the carcass traits and economics of production of finishing broilers fed cassava and yam peel meals as partial replacement for maize. They were randomly assigned to three treatment groups of 60 birds each. Each treatment group was replicated three times with twenty birds constituting a replicate. The three treatment groups were fed the three experimental diets in a completely randomized design (CRD) for 28 days. Feed and water were provided ad libitum for the period. Proximate composition results revealed that cassava and yam peel meals are rich in energy and minerals. Birds on diets T1 and T3 had similar (p > 0.05) final live and de-feathered weights, which were higher (p<0.05) than those on diet T2. Birds on diet T2 and T3 had the lower (p < 0.05) carcass weight than the birds on diet T1. There were no significant (p > 0.05) differences in the cut parts and organ weights, but there were significant differences in the dressing percentage of the birds across the treatments.  Revenue generated per bird was influenced (p < 0.05) with T3 birds having better income. It was concluded that sun-dried yam peel meal can replace 20 percent maize in the finishing broiler diet without adverse effects on performance and at reduced cost of productionKeywords: poultry, agro waste, unconventional feedstuffs, production traits, roots and tubers


Software testing is typically a rushed and neglected activity that is done at the final stages of software development. In particular, most students tend to test their programs manually and very seldom perform adequate testing. In this paper, two basic data structures are utilized to highlight the importance of writing effective test cases by testing their fundamental properties. The paper also includes performance testing at the unit level, of a classic recursive problem called the Towers of Hanoi. This teaching approach accomplishes two important pedagogical objectives: (1) it allows students to think about how to find hidden bugs and defects in their programs and (2) it encourages them to test more effectively by leveraging data structures that are already familiar to them.


We consider the problem of dynamic multichannel access in a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) containing N correlated channels, where the states of these channels follow a joint Markov model. A user at each time slot selects a channel to transmit a packet and receives a reward based on the success or failure of the transmission, which is dictated by the state of the selected channel. The objective is to find a policy that maximizes the expected long-term reward. The problem can be formulated as a partially observable Markov decision process (POMDP), which is PSPACE-hard and intractable. As a solution, we apply the concept of online learning and implement a Deep Q-Network (DQN) that can deal with large state space without any prior knowledge of the system dynamics. We compare the performance of DQN with a myopic policy and a Whittle Index-based heuristic through simulations and show that DQN can achieve nearoptimal performance. We also evaluate the performance of DQN on traces obtained from a real indoor WSN deployment. We show that DQN has the capability to learn a good policy in complex real scenarios, which do not necessarily show Markovian dynamics.


In the past, shareware has been mainly used to market small and simple software, the developers of which could not afford to distribute their products through a physical retail channel. Shareware was often distributed through complimentary floppy or CD disks attached to PC or games magazines. However, with increased network speed, it has become viable for digital files, even large ones, to be distributed over the Internet. The Internet channel has opened up new opportunities for developers, small or large, to distribute their products as shareware to reach consumers directly. Indeed, in recent years, we begin to see big firms, including Microsoft, Adobe, and Google, distributing their products as shareware. We find that shareware is an increasingly widespread marketing strategy for selling software products via the Web. Because the emergence of shareware has not been driven by economic concerns, there is limited analytical research on shareware. However, as shareware gains in popularity as a strategy to reduce consumers' uncertainty about new software products, there is a need for deeper understanding of the economic implications of its use. This paper analyzes the interrelationships among key issues that are central to the software industry, including uncertainty, piracy, shareware quality, and full version price. We show that customers' aversion to the uncertainty of software quality tends to increase shareware quality while piracy tends to decrease it. Counter intuitively, the perceived quality of the full version software or the trust toward the software developer does not affect the full version price and the profit of the firm when piracy is prevalent.


All hospitals deal with patient deaths. Multiple departments and personnel must be coordinated to ensure that decedents are safely managed. Prior to 2004, at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), when a patient passed away, the process of alerting involved personnel, transporting the decedent, and tracking the completion of clinical documents was cumbersome and inefficient. In order to address these concerns, UPMC Remains Tracker, a web-based application, was developed to improve the efficiency and simplify the logistics related to the management of patient deaths. The UPMC Information Services division developed UPMC Remains Tracker, an application that tracks decedents′ locations, documentation status, and autopsy status within UPMC hospitals. We assessed qualitative improvement in decedent remains tracking, decedent paperwork management, and staff satisfaction and compliance. UPMC Remains Tracker improved the process of tracking decedents′ locations, identifying involved personnel, monitoring autopsy requests, and determining the availability for funeral home transportation. Resident satisfaction with UPMC Remains Tracker was generally positive and scored as "Improved efficiency" and makes identifying and tracking decedents "Much easier". Additionally, the nursing staff reacted favorably to the application. A retrospective review of the use of the application in the management of 100 decedents demonstrated a 93% compliance rate. Among the cases requiring an autopsy, there was a 90% compliance rate. The process of tracking decedents, their paperwork, involved staff, and decedent autopsy status is often inefficient. This assessment suggests that incorporating new technologies such as UPMC Remains Tracker into the management of hospital deaths provides accurate tracking of remains, streamlines the administrative tasks associated with deaths, and increases nursing and resident satisfaction and compliance.


There has been concern for more than a decade that pupils do not have sufficient knowledge, skills and understanding of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) at the end of compulsory schooling. This research investigates approaches to the organisation of the ICT curriculum, teaching and learning, management, staffing and resources that are associated with high levels of ICT capability among 14-16 year olds in four secondary schools, each of which organised the delivery of the ICT curriculum in different ways. These were discrete or 'centralised' ICT, cross curricular ICT; and hybrids of these, the 'skills core' and 'kick start' models (NCET, 1996, p7). There are detailed case studies of each school, and a comparative analysis, which includes an assessment of the relative ICT capability of their pupils. The more and less successful schools are characterised, and there is discussion of the issues arising and those areas requiring further research.
Features associated with high levels of ICT capability included:
• ICT was taught as a discrete subject throughout key stages 3 and 4, and pupils were entered for GCSE ICT at the end of key stage 4
• There were well planned programmes of study for discrete ICT but the use of ICT across the curriculum was not planned in detail
• ICT teachers were more aware of the differences between teaching ICT and other subjects
• There was strong leadership by senior management; the HoD ICT was enthusiastic and approachable; and there were opportunities for all teachers to be involved in decision making
• There was a management committee that included senior managers, the HoD ICT and ICT teachers; and a user group with representatives from other subject departments
• Teachers of other subjects could not avoid using ICT in the classroom and for aspects of school administration
• Schools valued their investment in ICT resources
• There were significantly more specialist ICT teachers employed by the school
• There was an adequate quantity of modern ICT resources
• Higher levels of bid based funding were acquired


The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of fluctuating energy and pH on retention of dissolved contaminants from real Australian groundwaters using a solar (photovoltaic) powered ultrafiltration – nanofiltration/reverse osmosis (UF-NF/RO) system. Four NF/RO membranes (BW30, ESPA4, NF90, and TFC-S) were used. Energy fluctuations affected pressure and flow. Solar irradiance levels impacted retention of fluoride, magnesium, nitrate, potassium, and sodium where convection/diffusion dominated retention. Retention of calcium, strontium, and uranium was very high and independent of solar irradiance, which was attributed to a combination of size and charge exclusion and for some solutes sorption and precipitation. Groundwater characteristics affected retention and the solutes were categorized into two groups according to retention as a function of pH: (1) pH independent retention (arsenic, calcium, chloride, nitrate, potassium, selenium, sodium, strontium, and sulfate); and (2) pH dependent retention (copper, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, uranium, vanadium, and zinc). The retention of Group 1 solutes was typically high and attributed to steric effects. Group 2 solutes had dominant, insoluble species under certain conditions which led to deposition on the membrane surface (and thus varying apparent retention). The renewable energy membrane system removed a large number of groundwater solutes reliably over a range of real energy and pH conditions.


Poverty eradication and food security issues are central to most international development policies and developing countries including Ghana. International and national policies encourage investments in the agricultural sector, as a major means to reduce poverty and ensure food security. Lands in Sub-Saharan Africa have been declared empty and unutilized, which makes Africa the best corridor for such agricultural investments. However, large tracts of land acquisition through outright sale or long term lease with little or no compensation is in turn generating tension and conflicts at the local contexts where such agricultural projects take place. The central focus of this study is to explore how partnership between foreign investors and community members affects agricultural productivity and its implications for food selfsufficiency at the national and local contexts in Ghana. The trajectory of most of the agricultural investment projects have ended in tragedy due to lack of a good working relationship between land owners and users on the one side, and investors on the other side. Some of these investments also have international market targets (biofuel production) and do not benefit the local people directly. Using the Fievie rice project as a case study, my fieldwork reveals that, the community used its land as a tool to enter into partnership with the investor company (Global Agric-Development Company). The community is entitled to 2.5% of the gross income of the project and reserves the right to take back the land within three months of non-production. An out-grower programme has been developed for some community members. However, there is a shift in attention from the main staple crop (maize) to rice production for the participants. Also, labourers of the rice project (with meagre wages) are abandoning their farmlands due to the time and energy demands of the project. The people are allowed to glean on the rice farm. There was enormous dietary transformation in Fievie from akple to rice. Drawing on phenomenological and political ecology approaches as tools of analysis, I argue that, the Fievie rice participatory project, only works to an extent and to the advantage of people with power and the affluent in the global structure, at the detriment of the less advantaged. Also, local people's interests, meaning and values ascribed to food were not considered, prior to the commencement of the project. Although rice has become available to the people, it is transforming their culturally significative diet; akple. Additionally, the rice project might have boosted national food security, however, it is at the same time generating, maintaining and improving [existing] social, economic and political inequalities within the local structure. It further works to cripple existing selfreliance efforts of subsistence farmers. I argue that, the Fievie partnership is significant in controlling conflicts and land grabs, yet, it is a novel configuration of capitalism, and not a suitable tool for development.


ABSTRACT The Mediator complex is required for the regulated transcription of nearly all RNA polymerase II-dependent genes. Here we demonstrate a new role for Mediator which appears to be separate from its function as a transcriptional coactivator. Mediator associates directly with heterochromatin at telomeres and influences the exact boundary between active and inactive chromatin. Loss of the Mediator Med5 subunit or mutations in Med7 cause a depletion of the complex from regions located near subtelomeric X elements, which leads to a change in the balance between the Sir2 and Sas2 proteins. These changes in turn result in increased levels of H4K16 acetylation near telomeres and in desilencing of subtelomeric genes. Increases in H4K16 acetylation have been observed at telomeres in aging cells. In agreement with this observation, we found that the loss of MED5 leads to shortening of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae (budding yeast) replicative life span.


An important problem in many fields is the analysis of counts data to extract meaningful latent components. Methods like Probabilistic Latent Semantic Analysis (PLSA) and Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) have been proposed for this purpose. However, they are limited in the number of components they can extract and lack an explicit provision to control the "expressiveness" of the extracted components. In this paper, we present a learning formulation to address these limitations by employing the notion of sparsity. We start with the PLSA framework and use an entropic prior in a maximum a posteriori formulation to enforce sparsity. We show that this allows the extraction of overcomplete sets of latent components which better characterize the data. We present experimental evidence of the utility of such representations.


The use of computation and simulation has become an essential part of the scientific process. Being able to transform a theory into an algorithm requires significant theoretical insight, detailed physical and mathematical understanding, and a working level of competency in programming. This upper-division text provides an unusually broad survey of the topics of modern computational physics from a multidisciplinary, computational science point of view. Its philosophy is rooted in learning by doing (assisted by many model programs), with new scientific materials as well as with the Python programming language. Python has become very popular, particularly for physics education and large scientific projects. It is probably the easiest programming language to learn for beginners, yet is also used for mainstream scientific computing, and has packages for excellent graphics and even symbolic manipulations. The text is designed for an upper-level undergraduate or beginning graduate course and provides the reader with the essential knowledge to understand computational tools and mathematical methods well enough to be successful. As part of the teaching of using computers to solve scientific problems, the reader is encouraged to work through a sample problem stated at the beginning of each chapter or unit, which involves studying the text, writing, debugging and running programs, visualizing the results, and the expressing in words what has been done and what can be concluded. Then there are exercises and problems at the end of each chapter for the reader to work on their own (with model programs given for that purpose).


Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas on August 26, 2017, causing severe wind, wave, and surge damage to homes and businesses. Several weeks after landfall, National Science Foundation-funded teams of researchers performed reconnaissance related to winds and water levels, erosion, and damage caused by the storm. This paper will describe these efforts, the effects of Harvey's winds, waves, and surge, and will present preliminary conclusions.


This study examined the ecological role of herbivory on coral reefs of the Saudi Arabian Gulf coast.
Herbivory is a ubiquitous process and important in regulating benthic marine communities. Three reef
sites were studied over a 12-month period; one on an inshore fringing reef (1.5 m depth), and two on
the fringing reef surrounding an offshore island (3 m and 11 m depth). The inshore site experienced
greatest extremes in temperature, salinity and sedimentation.
The ecological role of herbivory was determined from algal settlement plates and their selective
exclusion from herbivores. The inshore site was naturally dominated by filamentous algae, while both
offshore sites supported a higher proportion of crustose forms. Location (i. e. distance from shore)
appeared to be more important than seasonality in determining the structure and composition of the
epilithic algal community. At the inshore site herbivorous fish (dominated by Siganus spp. ) imposed a
uniform, wide-ranging grazing pressure of intermediate intensity. Herbivorous echinoids (Echinometra
mathaei) imposed an intensive but localised grazing pressure. At the shallow offshore site, only
herbivorous fish (dominated by Scarus sp. ) appeared responsible for grazing impacts, which were also
intensive. At the deep offshore site both herbivorous fish (dominated by Pomacentrus spp. ) and
echinoids (Diademo setosum) were responsible for limiting algal growth, although other factors (e. g.
light penetration) may also inhibit algal productivity at this site. An experiment assessing the effects of
extreme perturbations (i. e. removal of the algal community), showed that seasonal life-history strongly
affected generic succession and rate of re-colonisation. Perturbation effects were temporary and did not
precipitate permanent alternative stable communities.
An important secondary effect of herbivory is bioerosion. The mean erosion rate by E. mathaei was
comparable to rates recorded elsewhere. Behavioural studies revealed that burrow defence and fidelity
were positively correlated with burrow complexity, and that the frequency of agonistic behaviour was
low. Foraging range was negatively correlated with burrow complexity. In addition, the risk of
mortality by finfish predators at the inshore site was estimated to be very low.
The study has shown that Saudi Arabian Gulf reef communities may be particularly vulnerable to the
depletion of herbivores, for example by overfishing. Management plans should therefore safeguard the
herbivorous community, in order to maintain natural bioerosion rates and other reef processes.


We show that people have difficulty valuing annuities, and this, instead of a preference for lumpsums, helps explain observed low annuity demand. Although the median price at which people are willing to sell an annuity stream is close to the actuarial value, many responses diverge greatly from optimizing behavior. Moreover, people will pay substantially less to buy than to sell annuities. We conclude that boundedly rational consumers adopt "buy low, sell high" heuristics when confronting a complex trade-off. This suggests that many consumers do not make optimizing decisions, underscoring the difficulty of explaining cross-sectional annuity valuation differences using standard models.


Formal verification (Fv) is considered by many to be complicated and to require considerable mathematical knowledge for successful application. We have developed a methodology in which we have added formal verification to the verification process without requiring any knowledge of formal verification languages. We use only finite-state machine notation, which is familiar and intuitive to designers. Another problem associated with formal verification is state-space explosion. If that occurs, no result is returned; our method switches to random simulation after one hour without results, and no effort is lost. We have compared FV against random simulation with respect to development time, and our results indicate that FV is at least as fast as random simulation. FV is superior in terms of verification quality, however, because it is exhaustive.


In recent years our understanding of molecular mechanisms of drug action and interindividual variability in drug response has grown enormously. Meanwhile, the practice of anesthesiology has expanded to the preoperative environment and numerous locations outside the OR. Anesthetic Pharmacology: Basic Principles and Clinical Practice, second edition, is an outstanding therapeutic resource in anesthesia and critical care: Section 1 introduces the principles of drug action, Section 2 presents the molecular, cellular and integrated physiology of the target organ/functional system and Section 3 reviews the pharmacology and toxicology of anesthetic drugs. The new Section 4, Therapeutics of Clinical Practice, provides integrated and comparative pharmacology and the practical application of drugs in daily clinical practice. Edited by three highly acclaimed academic anesthetic pharmacologists, with contributions from an international team of experts, and illustrated in full colour, this is a sophisticated, user-friendly resource for all practitioners providing care in the perioperative period.


In this paper, the performance of two-way multiuser mixed radio frequency/free space optical (RF/FSO) relay networks with opportunistic user scheduling and asymmetric channel fading is studied. RF links are used to conduct data transmission between users and relay node, while a FSO link is used to conduct data transmission on the last-mile communication link between the relay node and base station. The RF links are assumed to follow a Rayleigh fading model, while the FSO links are assumed to follow a unified Gamma–Gamma atmospheric turbulence fading model with pointing error. First, closed-form expressions for the exact outage probability, asymptotic (high signal-to-noise ratio) outage probability, average symbol error rate, and average ergodic channel capacity are derived assuming a heterodyne detection scheme. The asymptotic results are used to conduct a power optimization algorithm where expressions for optimal transmission power values for the transmitting nodes are provided. Additionally, performance comparisons between the considered two-way-relaying (TWR) network and the oneway- relaying (OWR) network are provided and discussed. Also, the impact of several system parameters, including number of users, pointing errors, atmospheric turbulence conditions, and outage probability threshold on the overall network performance are investigated. All the theoretical results are validated by Monte Carlo simulations. The results show that the TWR scheme almost doubles the network ergodic capacity compared to that of the OWR scheme with the same outage performance. Additionally, it is shown that under weak-to-moderate weather turbulence conditions and small pointing error, the outage probability is dominated by the RF downlink with a neglected effect for the user selection process at the RF uplink transmission. However, for severe pointing error, the outage probability is dominated by the FSO uplink/downlink transmission.


Unilateral pulmonary edema is an uncommon manifestation of pulmonary edema. We report a case of unilateral pulmonary edema in a 45-year-old woman with chronic kidney disease, hypertension and diabetes who presented after a motor vehicle collision and was down with the left lung in dependent position. She was found to have a left lung infiltrate on the chest computed tomography (CT) scan. Resolution of radiological findings after hemodialysis pointed toward pulmonary edema. The patient did not have any pre-existing parenchymal lung abnormality; therefore the cause of pulmonary edema was ascribed to dependent position. J Med Cases. 2014;5(7):417-419 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.14740/j mc1808w


Oncology care has two important aspects: the management of adverse effects caused by chemotherapy and palliative care. Adverse reactions are common, severe and occurring at therapeutic doses. They may be acute or chronic, permanent or temporary, mild or severe. The management of side effects is very important because they can affect treatment, tolerability and quality of life. Palliative care is the last line of possible medical intervention for end-stage patients with incurable diseases to ensure the best possible quality of life until the last minute.


Streptococcus pneumoniae, the most important cause of acute otitis media, pneumonia, septicaemia and meningitis worldwide, comes in 90 different serotypes. Only a few serotypes cause most of the serious disease. Different serotypes are distinguished by difference in the complex sugars that made up the bacteria's capsule that provide protection against the host's specific defenses. The burden of invasive pneumococcal disease in South Africa subjects is estimated to be 100 and 200 per 100 000. The conjugate pneumococcal vaccine has been shown to be effective in reducing invasive pneumococcal disease due to vaccine serotypes in all countries where it has been introduced. This benefit has extended to unvaccinated subjects. Reduction in penicillin resistance pneumococcus related to vaccine serotypes has been recorded. Replacement disease by non vaccine serotype has eroded the benefit of the vaccine. Industry, donors and governments need to interact to ensure accelerated implementation of this vaccine in developing countries.


Abstract : Captured network data enables an organization to perform routine tasks such as network situational awareness and incident response to security alerts. The process of capturing, storing, and evaluating network traffic as part of monitoring is an increasingly complex and critical problem. With high-speed networks and ever-increasing network traffic volumes, full-packet traffic capture solutions can require petabytes of storage for a single day. The capacity needed to store full-packet captures for a time frame that permits the needed analysis is unattainable for many organizations. A tiered network storage solution, which stores only the most critical or effective types of traffic in full-packet captures and the rest as summary data, can help organizations mitigate the storage issues while providing the detailed information they need. This report discusses considerations and decisions to be made when designing a tiered network data storage solution. It includes a method, based on a cost-effectiveness model, that can help organizations decide what types of network traffic to store at each storage tier. The report also uses real-world network measurements to show how storage requirements change based on what traffic is stored in which storage tier.


Advance market commitments (AMCs) provide a mechanism to stimulate investment by suppliers of products to low-income countries. In an AMC, donors commit to a fund from which a specified subsidy is paid per unit purchased by low-income countries until the fund is exhausted, strengthening suppliers' incentives to invest in research, development, and capacity. Last decade saw the launch of a $1.5 billion pilot AMC to distribute pneumococcal vaccine to the developing world; in the current pandemic, variations on AMCs are being used to fund COVID-19 vaccines. This paper undertakes the first formal analysis of AMCs. We construct a model in which an altruistic donor negotiates on behalf of a low-income country with a vaccine supplier after the supplier has sunk investments. We use this model to explain the logic of an AMC—as a solution to a hold-up problem—and to analyze alternative design features under various economic conditions (cost uncertainty, supplier competition). A key finding is that optimal AMC design differs markedly depending on where the product is in its development cycle. This paper was accepted by Joshua Gans, business strategy.


This report describes the first scientific meeting of the British Society for Proteome Research (BSPR), which was organised jointly with the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) and held in July 2004. The focus of the conference was functional proteomics with an emphasis on possible clinical application. The main subjects described here are: the need to simplify samples, the use of biological fluids verses tissue, consideration of biological and experimental variation and the creation of databases to achieve menaingful functional analysis.


Body mass of incubating females, their egg sizes, hatching success, hatchling masses and brood survival were recorded for individually colour-marked Lapwings Vanellus vanellus and Black-tailed Godwits Limosa limosa breeding on meadows in Kiskunsag National Park, 50 km south of Budapest, Hungary. We found no relationships between egg size and body mass of females, but there were positive correlations between female body mass and hatching success in both species. Laying date did not effect hatching success. Females replaced a clutch only if the first clutch was destroyed during the first half of incubation. Females that laid replacement clutches were heavier at the start of incubation of their first clutches than females that did not relay. The longest time interval, and the greatest nest distance, between first and replacement clutches were respectively 17 days and 94 m in Lapwings, and 20 days and 120 m in Black-tailed Godwits. Egg sizes were smaller in replacement clutches than in first clutches. Egg size was positively correlated with hatchling mass and with brood survival in both species, but brood survival decreased with hatching date. Females tending the chicks together with their mates suffered fewer chick losses before fledging than lone females.


This study describes neuropsychiatric side effects in patients after treatment with mefloquine. Reactions consisted mainly of seizures, acute psychoses, anxiety neurosis, and major disturbances of sleep-wake rhythm. Side effects occurred after both therapeutic and prophylactic intake and were graded from moderate to severe. In a risk analysis of neuropsychiatric side effects in Germany, it is estimated that one of 8,000 mefloquine users suffers from such reactions. The incidence calculation revealed that one of 215 therapeutic users had reactions, compared with one of 13,000 in the prophylaxis group, making the risk of neuropsychiatric reactions after mefloquine treatment 60 times higher than after prophylaxis. Therefore, certain limitations for malaria prophylaxis and treatment with mefloquine are recommended.


Objectives: We estimated disability prevalence among adults at global, regional and country levels using internationally comparable disability data and measure. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of data from the World Health Survey (WHS) (2002-2004) for nationally representative samples of civilian, non-institutionalized populations in 54 countries. A disability was measured as having at least one severe or extreme difficulty with bodily functions (seeing, concentrating) and activities (moving around, self-care) based on an individual's self-reports. Results: In the 54 countries under study, severe or extreme functional or activity difficulties are highly prevalent. For all countries, disability prevalence is estimated at 14% for all adults. Low and middle income countries have higher disability prevalence compared to high income countries. Among subgroups, disability prevalence stands at 12% among working age adults and 39% among the elderly. Women have higher prevalence than men. Conclusions: Disability is found to be highly prevalent among adults, with an estimated global prevalence at 14%. Disability deserves enhanced policy attention and resources in public health and international development.


Introduction Transport systems based on autologous red blood cells for targeted drug delivery can be considered as a promising approach in the treatment of surgical infections. Experimental studies have revealed the feasibility of targeted drug delivery by encapsulation of cytokines and antibiotics into autologous erythrocyte ghosts. Purpose To study biopharmaceutical characteristics of autologous erythrocyte ghosts containing cytokines and antibiotics (pharmacocytes). Material and methods The erythrocyte pharmacocytes were prepared by the hypotonic hemolysis method, or the use of human red blood cells. The association and dissociation indicators of rifampicin and cytokine substances with the erythrocyte ghosts were conducted using standard methods. Results We have defined the following extracellular concentrations to be optimal for deposition of drug substances into pharmacocytes: for rifampicin – 10 000 μ/ml, erythropoietin - 1000 IU/ml, TNF-a - 5000 IU/ml, IL-1-β - 5000 U/ml, IFN-γ - 10 000ME/ml, IL-2 - 50 000 IU/ml, angiogenin - 0.04 mg/ml. Two types of correlations of cytokines and pharmacocytes were identified. In this study, we found that 40–60 % of the erythropoietin, IFN- γ and angiogenin were bound to red blood cells ghosts, more than 10% of which were bound irreversibly. For TNF-a, IL-1-β and IL-2, the red blood cells ghosts were capable of binding and depositing within 10–20 % of the input extracellular concentration, and these bindings were almost completely reversible. The rifampicin was bound by red blood cells ghosts with 5 % efficiency and also completely reversibly. Conclusion The study has shown the effectiveness of inclusion of the studied components, such as erythropoietin, IFN-γ and angiogenin into the red blood cells ghosts, with significant efficiency (40–60 %). It presents the potential of using this system in targeted delivery of cytokines and antibiotics for treatment of surgical infections, thus facilitating the reduction in toxicity and adverse systemic effects of drugs and improving the treatment results.


Introduction: Polycystic ovary syndrome or PCOS is also called "Stein-Leventhal Syndrome". It comprises of many endocrinal disturbances of female reproductive system and manifested variably to be called as a "Syndrome." Insulin resistance is seen in 30–40% women with PCOS and is accompanied with hyperinsulinemia in about 50–70% of women. Cardiometabolic index (CMI) is a new marker for coronary artery disease and metabolic syndrome. The relationship of CMI and insulin resistance is further explored in the present study using peroxisome proliferator activated receptor- γ (PPAR- γ ) serum levels. PPAR- γ or glitazone receptors are involved in improving insulin sensitization, mainly through adipocyte differentiation. Aims and objectives: To study whether there is any association of CMI and insulin resistance with PPAR- γ serum levels. Materials and methods: A hospital-based observational case–control study was conducted in 50 diagnosed cases of PCOS (15–45 years of age) as per revised Rotterdam Criteria along with 50 age-matched apparently healthy women volunteers as controls. Fasting blood samples on D 2 / D 3 were taken to obtain serum for analysis of biochemical and glycemic parameters, including lipid profile and HOMA-IR. PPAR- γ levels were estimated using sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Statistical analysis using SPSS ver. 23 employing independent sample t test for intergroup comparison of means and Pearson's correlation coefficient for correlation analysis was done. Results and conclusion: Serum triglyceride levels were found to be significantly higher in cases (121.08 ± 57.6 mg/dL) when compared to controls (97.6 ± 44.2 mg/dL), suggesting that dyslipidemia is associated with PCOS, with hypertriglyceridemia being an important component of it. This study showed significantly lower levels of PPAR- γ in the cases when compared to controls ( p value < 0.05). HOMA-IR showed a significant positive correlation with serum TG. CMI also depicted significant and positive correlations with hypertriglyceridemia, HOMA-IR, and PPAR- γ .


"This highly informative book provides a comprehensive guide to the teaching of thinking skills in primary and secondary education." Learning and Teaching Update It is now recognised that thinking skills, such as problem-solving, analysis, synthesis, creativity and evaluation, can be nurtured and developed, and education professionals can play a significant role in shaping the way that children learn and think. As a result, schools are being encouraged to make greater use of thinking skills in lessons and the general emphasis on cognition has developed considerably. This book offers a comprehensive introduction to thinking skills in education and provides detailed guidance on how teachers can support cognitive development in their classrooms. Developing Thinking; Developing Learning discusses how thinking programmes, learning activities and teachers' pedagogy in the classroom can fundamentally affect the nature of pupils' thinking, and considers the effects of the learning environment created by peers and teachers. It compares the nature, design and outcomes of established thinking programmes used in schools and also offers practical advice for teachers wishing to develop different kinds of thinking capabilities. This is an indispensable guide to thinking skills in schools today, and is key reading for education studies students, teachers and trainee teachers, and educational psychologists.


Diffie-Hellman groups are a widely used component in cryptographic protocols in which a shared secret is needed. These protocols are typically proven to be secure under the assumption they are implemented with prime order Diffie Hellman groups. However, in practice, many implementations either choose to use non-prime order groups for reasons of efficiency, or can be manipulated into operating in non-prime order groups. This leaves a gap between the proofs of protocol security, which assume prime order groups, and the real world implementations. This is not merely a theoretical possibility: many attacks exploiting small subgroups or invalid curve points have been found in the real world. While many advances have been made in automated protocol analysis, modern tools such as Tamarin and ProVerif represent DH groups using an abstraction of prime order groups. This means they, like many cryptographic proofs, may miss practical attacks on real world protocols. In this work we develop a novel extension of the symbolic model of Diffie-Hellman groups. By more accurately modelling internal group structure, our approach captures many more differences between prime order groups and their actual implementations. The additional behaviours that our models capture are surprisingly diverse, and include not only attacks using small subgroups and invalid curve points, but also a range of proposed mitigation techniques, such as excluding low order elements, single coordinate ladders, and checking the elliptic curve equation. Our models thereby capture a large family of attacks that were previously outside the symbolic model. We implement our improved models in the Tamarin Prover. We find a new attack on the Secure Scuttlebutt Gossip protocol, independently discover a recent attack on the Tendermint protocol, and show how our analysis finds previous Bluetooth attacks and evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed countermeasures.