AIM To investigate the effect of a low-FODMAP diet on irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)-like symptoms in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). METHODS This was a randomised controlled open-label trial of patients with IBD in remission or with mild-to-moderate disease and coexisting IBS-like symptoms (Rome III) randomly assigned to a Low-FODMAP diet (LFD) or a normal diet (ND) for 6 wk between June 2012 and December 2013. Patients completed the IBS symptom severity system (IBS-SSS) and short IBD quality of life questionnaire (SIBDQ) at weeks 0 and 6. The primary end-point was response rates (at least 50-point reduction) in IBS-SSS at week 6 between groups; secondary end-point was the impact on quality of life. RESULTS Eighty-nine patients, 67 (75%) women, median age 40, range 20-70 years were randomised: 44 to LFD group and 45 to ND, from which 78 patients completed the study period and were included in the final analysis (37 LFD and 41 ND). There was a significantly larger proportion of responders in the LFD group (n = 30, 81%) than in the ND group (n = 19, 46%); (OR = 5.30; 95%CI: 1.81-15.55, P < 0.01). At week 6, the LFD group showed a significantly lower median IBS-SSS (median 115; inter-quartile range [IQR] 33-169) than ND group (median 170, IQR 91-288), P = 0.02. Furthermore, the LFD group had a significantly greater increase in SIBDQ (median 60, IQR 51-65) than the ND group (median 50, IQR 39-60), P < 0.01. CONCLUSION In a prospective study, a low-FODMAP diet reduced IBS-like symptoms and increased quality of life in patients with IBD in remission.


Should the United States continue to enter into free trade agreements containing sovereign commitments to resolve regulatory disputes with qualifying multinational corporations before international arbitral tribunals? This question has gained public prominence due to the vocal opposition of Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Mr. Donald Trump to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), denouncing it as disastrous and corrupt. Public outcry has focused in particular on the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism included in the treaty. Public criticism submits that ISDS suffers from a fatal systemic asymmetry — it favors the profit-interests of multinationals over the public policy concerns of the host states in which these multinationals invest. As this Article demonstrates, existing academic literature on ISDS tends to confirm this asymmetry. The prevalent ISDS literature is descriptively incorrect in this regard. This oversight is caused by a significant blind spot in the ISDS research perspective: the literature focuses exclusively upon the expectation interests of multinationals arising out of investment transactions. The Article demonstrates that this focus is descriptively untenable. Supernational Law proposes an alternative to the expectation interest model prevalent in the current literature: ISDS does not focus upon investor expectancy, as currently theorized, but protects the reciprocal reliance interests of states as well as multinational investors. An ISDS process focused upon reliance interests of states and non-state actors imposes meaningful obligations on all parties to investment transactions. These obligations are part of a legal process mediating between state-to-state international law and commercial transnational law norms. By protecting reciprocal reliance interests of states and multinationals, ISDS emerges as a constitutive component for the success of global public-private cooperation. This change in perspective demonstrates how ISDS can assist both states and multinationals in harnessing market mechanisms to achieve development policy goals.


A new design of all-optical gain-clamped L-band double-pass (DP) erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) has been proposed and demonstrated, in which the input port and the odd-channel output port of an interleaver are connected with the DP configuration EDF through a circulator to form lasing ring cavity for clamping gain, and the even port is utilized to export the amplified signals. The low noise figure can be achieved because the lasing power copropagates with the signals, and it is exported separately from the amplified signal thanks to interleaver. Meanwhile, the fiber Bragg grating incorporated in DP configuration suppresses the backward amplified spontaneous emission generation, and therefore improves efficiently the gain and lowers the noise figure. In such a way, the clamped gain of 16.3 dB with a variation below 0.2 dB and noise figure below 5 dB are achieved in the new L-band all-optical gain-clamped EDFA.


Does the combination of inflation and high corporate taxes explain the increase in bank leverage in the 20th century? Inflation automatically increases bank debt, while high corporate taxes hinder capital accumulation. Capital ratios therefore drop, until leverage-induced returns are sufficient to uphold them at constant levels. This theory was confronted with Swedish bank data 1870–2001. Bank capital ratios dropped when inflation and corporate tax rates were high, during WWI and in 1940–1980. The theory can explain the sinking bank capital ratios during these periods, but also their relative stability since the early 1980s. High corporate taxes and inflation were estimated to account for half of the drop in Swedish bank capital ratios since WWII.


Among the insidious DNA base lesions, 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanine (8-oxoG) is one of the most abundant, a lesion that arises through the attack by reactive oxygen species on guanine, especially when located in cis-regulatory elements. 8-oxoG is repaired by the 8-oxoguanine glycosylase 1 (OGG1)–initiated DNA base excision repair pathway. In this study, we investigated whether 8-oxoG repair by OGG1 in promoter regions is compatible with a prompt gene expression and a host innate immune response. For this purpose, we used a mouse model of airway inflammation, supplemented with cell cultures, chromatin immunoprecipitation, small interfering RNA knockdown, real-time PCR, and comet and reporter transcription assays. Our data show that exposure of cells to TNF-α altered cellular redox, increased the 8-oxoG level in DNA, recruited OGG1 to promoter sequences, and transiently inhibited base excision repair of 8-oxoG. Promoter-associated OGG1 then enhanced NF-κB/RelA binding to cis-elements and facilitated recruitment of specificity protein 1, transcription initiation factor II-D, and p-RNA polymerase II, resulting in the rapid expression of chemokines/cytokines and inflammatory cell accumulation in mouse airways. Small interfering RNA depletion of OGG1 or prevention of guanine oxidation significantly decreased TNF-α–induced inflammatory responses. Taken together, these results show that nonproductive binding of OGG1 to 8-oxoG in promoter sequences could be an epigenetic mechanism to modulate gene expression for a prompt innate immune response.


This paper proposes a comprehensive framework for multiobjective design optimization of switched reluctance motors (SRMs) based on a combination of the design of experiments and particle swarm optimization (PSO) approaches. First, the definitive screening design was employed to perform sensitivity analyses to identify significant design variables without bias of interaction effects between design variables. Next, optimal third-order response surface (RS) models were constructed based on the Audze-Eglais Latin hypercube design using the selected significant design variables. The constructed optimal RS models consist of only significant regression terms, which were selected by using PSO. Then, a PSO-based multiobjective optimization coupled with the constructed RS models, instead of the finite-element analysis, was performed to generate the Pareto front with a significantly reduced computational cost. A sample SRM design with multiple optimization objectives, i.e., maximizing torque per active mass, maximizing efficiency, and minimizing torque ripple, was conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed optimal design framework.


ABSTRACT Over the past decades, the use of mobile technology has increased and the attitude towards work has changed, making it possible to work anywhere at any time. However, workers still seek work environments that stimulate networking and collaboration possibilities. This has led to the growing popularity of co-working spaces. However, little is known about the specific preferences of co-working space users. The aim of this research is to analyse user preferences for co-working space characteristics. Stated choice data were collected by means of a questionnaire which was completed by 219 respondents of 25 co-working spaces in the Netherlands. A mixed-multinomial logit model was used to analyse the user preferences. Results show that the main motivations for co-workers to work in a co-working space were that they were looking for a workplace outside their home that allows them to work in an inspiring work environment where the accommodation is affordable. Accessibility and atmosphere/interior are the most important characteristics when choosing a specific co-working space. These results provide owners or managers of co-working spaces with clear insights about how to cope with co-worker preferences by offering co-working spaces with good accessibility by car and public transport, a semi-open layout and a homelike interior.


The article focuses on border crossings in travel stories, which were published in hand-written newspapers in 19thand early 20th-century Finland. These papers were a popular tradition in student organizations and popular movements. Border crossings appear in travel stories in three different representations. Firstly, border crossings are repeated motifs in travel stories, both as challenging events and as small gestures and encounters. Travel stories demarcate boundaries, but they also provide a means for transgressing them. Secondly, hand-written newspapers as a literary practice highlight borders between oral and written communication. They were produced as one single manuscript copy, and published by being read out aloud in social events. Thirdly, the authors of hand-written newspapers were placed on the border of different positions in society such as class, gender and age. My analysis is based on the methodological discussion of small stories and personal experience narratives; travel stories can be defined as "local event narratives". I have outlined four basic models for travel stories which emerge from hand-written newspapers: the great mission story, the grand tour story, the flâneur story and the retreat story. The analysis of travel stories is presented through four different case studies with a time range from the 1850s to the 1920s: these materials have been produced in two provincial student fraternities (osakunta), in the temperance society "Star" in Helsinki in the 1890s, and in the Social Democratic Youth Club in the small industrial town of Karkkila in the 1910s and the 1920s. Many parallel features can be observed in travel stories, even though the social background and ideology of the authors are quite different. Time and space are important aspects in travel stories, and they often demarcate boundaries of class and gender.


The US package of measures to help households hit by the economic shock from the COVID-19 crisis, including the Paycheck Protection Program, is almost twice as large in proportion of GDP as the French package, but it has proven less effective in curbing unemployment because of poor design and implementation. In contrast, the increase in the unemployment rate in France has been five times less than the increase in the United States. Cohen-Setton and Pisani-Ferry dive beneath the unreliable headline numbers to assess the effectiveness of government support provided to households in March–May 2020 in the two countries. They conclude that the French approach (mirrored in some other European countries) delivered a bigger bang for the buck. But the fact that the US approach has fallen short should not diminish the significance of the policy shift signaled by the enactment of measures to maintain household income.


The study evaluated the role of sell-side analysts' long-term earnings growth forecasts in
the Pricing of common equity offering. A survey was carried out in the Nairobi Stock
Exchange Market (NSE) of newly listed firms which are characterized by stock price
under- performance to establish the relationship between analysts LTG forecasts and the
stock price under-performance shortly after Equity offering. The study investigated
whether sell-side analysts produce overly optimistic forecasts at the time of equity
offering and whether those optimistic expectations are reflected in the stock Prices.
The researcher reviewed research related to the role of sell-side financial analyst's long-term
earnings growth forecasts in the pricing of common Equity offering. Two important
papers published in the 1990s provided perspective on the literature in this area, one of the
papers appearing in the Journal of Finance and the other appearing in the financial analyst
journal. The main objective was to provide an organized look of the literature, with
particular attention to the important research questions. The study employed a descriptive
research design. A survey of the newly listed firms in the Nairobi Stock Exchange market
was conducted, where census method was used to draw the target population of newly
listed companies. The researcher used secondary data obtained from the NSE and CMA
data bank, analysts report and library search. Tables and charts where used in data
recordings and presentation for easy understanding and analysis. Finally descriptive
statistic's where by non linear least squares regression was used in data analysis.
From the findings the study revealed that analyst's affiliation had positive effects on their
long term earning growth forecasts reports, it was found that sell side analyst long term
earning growth forecasts are overly optimistic around equity offering and that analysts
employed by the lead managers/investment banks of the offerings make the most
optimistic forecast. The results revealed that analyst's bias (optimism) was reflected in the
stock prices of firms issuing equity, and-fin lly the researcher found a positive relationship
between the fees paid to the affiliated analysts' employers and the level of analysts'
affiliation.


BACKGROUND: Intracranial hemangioblastomas are highly vascular tumors that account for 1% to 2% of all central nervous system tumors. Preoperative embolization has been proposed to limit the often significant intraoperative blood loss associated with resection and potentially make the tumor more soft/necrotic and thus more amenable to gross total resection. The safety and efficacy of preoperative embolization of intracranial hemangioblastomas, however, are not well characterized. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of preoperative endovascular embolization of intracranial hemangioblastomas using a variety of embolic agents. METHODS: A retrospective review of all surgically resected intracranial hemangioblastomas treated with preoperative embolization between 1999 and 2014 at 2 high-volume centers was performed. Clinical and radiographic criteria, including von Hippel-Lindau status, magnetic resonance imaging tumor characteristics, embolization-related complications, degree of angiographic devascularization, intraoperative blood loss, ability to obtain gross total resection, transfusion requirements, and operative time, were analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 54 patients underwent surgery, with 24 undergoing preoperative embolization followed by surgical resection, and 30 patients undergoing surgical resection alone. Embolization-related neurological complications were seen in 6 patients (25%), including 3 hemorrhages when polyvinyl alcohol particles (P = .04) were used and 3 infarctions when liquid embolic agents were used (P = .27). Permanent neurological deficits were seen in 15%. CONCLUSION: Preoperative embolization of intracranial hemangioblastomas should be performed with caution, given the potential for neurological morbidity. Further studies are needed to help guide patient and embolic agent selection. ABBREVIATIONS: n-BCA, N-butyl cyanoacrylate PVA, polyvinyl alcohol VHL, von Hippel-Lindau


Possibilistic Defeasible Logic Programming (P-DeLP) is a logic programming framework which combines features from argumentation theory and logic programming, in which defeasible rules are attached with weights expressing their relative belief or preference strength. In P-DeLP a conclusion succeeds if there exists an argument that entails the conclusion and this argument is found to be undefeated by a warrant procedure that systematically explores the universe of arguments in order to present an exhaustive synthesis of the relevant chains of pros and cons for the given conclusion. Recently, we have proposed a new warrant recursive semantics for P-DeLP, called Recursive P-DeLP (RP-DeLP for short), based on the claim that the acceptance of an argument should imply also the acceptance of all its subarguments which reflect the different premises on which the argument is based. This paper explores the relationship between the exhaustive dialectical analysis based semantics of P-DeLP and the recursive based semantics of RP-DeLP, and analyzes a non-monotonic inference operator for RP-DeLP which models the expansion of a given program by adding new weighted facts associated with warranted conclusions. Given the recursive based semantics of RP-DeLP, we have also implemented an argumentation framework for RP-DeLP that is able to compute not only the output of warranted and blocked conclusions, but also explain the reasons behind the status of each conclusion. We have developed this framework as a stand-alone application with a simple text-based input/output interface to be able to use it as part of other AI systems.


ABSTRACT This paper explores how varied systems of governance work at the European city level to deliver different policy mixes for implementing nature-based approaches which support integrated water management and policy. Urban systems provide unique insights here due to the concentration of consumption, economic activities and excessive land-use pressures. However, few studies are providing generic insights, rooted in policy and political theory perspectives, on the dynamic impact of urban governance systems on different mixes of policies to integrate urban nature and water management approaches. The paper fills this gap through an extensive literature review. It first draws on analysis that focuses on institutional logics of operation to understand how urban institutional arrangements of governance shape the framing of the policy problem and how this influences the choice of policy approaches. It then explores the related administrative processes including decision support tools, participatory approaches, and funding regimes. These administrative approaches deliver, potentially, different policy responses that take into account integrated nature-based policy approaches to urban water governance.


Purpose The aim of this paper is to describe a public, open‐access, computed tomography (CT) phantom image set acquired at three centers and collected especially for radiomics reproducibility research. The dataset is useful to test radiomic features reproducibility with respect to various parameters, such as acquisition settings, scanners, and reconstruction algorithms. Acquisition and validation methods Three phantoms were scanned in three independent institutions. Images of the following phantoms were acquired: Catphan 700 and COPDGene Phantom II (Phantom Laboratory, Greenwich, NY, USA), and the Triple modality 3D Abdominal Phantom (CIRS, Norfolk, VA, USA). Data were collected at three Dutch medical centers: MAASTRO Clinic (Maastricht, NL), Radboud University Medical Center (Nijmegen, NL), and University Medical Center Groningen (Groningen, NL) with scanners from two different manufacturers Siemens Healthcare and Philips Healthcare. The following acquisition parameter were varied in the phantom scans: slice thickness, reconstruction kernels, and tube current. Data format and usage notes We made the dataset publically available on the Dutch instance of "Extensible Neuroimaging Archive Toolkit‐XNAT" (https://xnat.bmia.nl). The dataset is freely available and reusable with attribution (Creative Commons 3.0 license). Potential applications Our goal was to provide a findable, open‐access, annotated, and reusable CT phantom dataset for radiomics reproducibility studies. Reproducibility testing and harmonization are fundamental requirements for wide generalizability of radiomics‐based clinical prediction models. It is highly desirable to include only reproducible features into models, to be more assured of external validity across hitherto unseen contexts. In this view, phantom data from different centers represent a valuable source of information to exclude CT radiomic features that may already be unstable with respect to simplified structures and tightly controlled scan settings. The intended extension of our shared dataset is to include other modalities and phantoms with more realistic lesion simulations.


Flood hazards and the risks they present to human health are an increasing concern across the globe, in terms of lives, well-being and livelihoods, and the public resources needed to plan for, and deal with, the health impacts. This book is the first detailed assessment and discussion of the global health implications of flooding and future flood risk. It combines an analysis of the human health impacts of flooding with analysis of individual and societal response to those risks, and sets these findings in light of potential future increases in flood hazard as a result of climate change. Written and edited by leading researchers and practitioners on flood hazards and human health, the volume brings together findings from epidemiological, environmental, social and institutional studies, with analysis rooted in an approach that emphasizes the developmental as well as environmental causes of flood risk, and the socially differentiated nature of vulnerability and coping capacity. The first part of the book sets out the scope of the issues, and provides a detailed discussion of the global health impacts of floods and the nature of human response to the health risks posed. The second part presents new research evidence on specific health aspects of floods covering mental health, infectious diseases, local level responses and the responses of health systems - drawing on case study material from Europe, Africa, Asia and North America, including the impact of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The conclusion synthesizes insights from the previous chapters and discusses priorities for policy, practice and research. It draws out implications for present and future adaptation to flooding, and emphasizes the need to integrate action on health with the broader agenda of long-term risk reduction. This is indispensable reading for professionals and researchers working on hazard and disaster planning, risk reduction and public health in all countries and contexts.


Formal methods is an area in theoretical computer science that provides the theories and tools for describing and verifying the correctness of computing systems. Usually, such systems comprise of concurrent and communicating components. The success of this field led to the development of quantum formal methods by transferring the ideas of formal methods to quantum systems. In particular, formal methods provides a systematic methodology for verification of systems. Quantum process calculus is a specialised
field in quantum formal methods that helps to describe and analyse the behaviour of systems that combine quantum and classical elements.
We focus on the theory and applications of quantum process calculus in particular to use Communicating Quantum Processes (CQP), a quantum process calculus, to model and analyse quantum information processing (QIP) systems. Previous work on CQP defined labelled transition relations for CQP in order to describe external interactions and also established the theory of behavioural equivalence in CQP based on probabilistic branching
bisimilarity. This theory formalizes the idea of observational indistinguishability in order to prove or verify the correctness of a system, and an important property of the equivalence is the congruence property. We use the theory to analyse two versions of a quantum error correcting code system. We use the equational theory of CQP from the previous work and define an additional three new axioms in order to analyse quantum
protocols comprising quantum secret-sharing, quantum error correction, remote-CNOT and superdense coding.
We have expanded the framework of modelling in CQP from providing an abstract view of the quantum system to describe a realistic QIP system such as linear optical quantum computing (LOQC) and its associated experimental processes. By extending the theory of behavioural equivalence of CQP, we have formally verified two models of an LOQC CNOT gate using CQP. The two models use different measurement semantics in order to work at different levels of abstraction. This flexibility of the process calculus approach allows descriptions from detailed hardware implementations up to more abstract
specifications. The orbital angular momentum (OAM) property of light allows us to perform experiments in studying higher dimensional quantum systems and their applications to quantum technologies. In relation to this work, we have extended CQP to model higher dimensional quantum protocols.


Background Chronic chorioamnionitis is found in more than one-third of spontaneous preterm births. Chronic chorioamnionitis and villitis of unknown etiology represent maternal anti-fetal cellular rejection. Antibody-mediated rejection is another type of transplantation rejection. We investigated whether there was evidence for antibody-mediated rejection against the fetus in spontaneous preterm birth. Methods and Findings This cross-sectional study included women with (1) normal pregnancy and term delivery (n = 140) and (2) spontaneous preterm delivery (n = 140). We analyzed maternal and fetal sera for panel-reactive anti-HLA class I and class II antibodies, and determined C4d deposition on umbilical vein endothelium by immunohistochemistry. Maternal anti-HLA class I seropositivity in spontaneous preterm births was higher than in normal term births (48.6% vs. 32.1%, p = 0.005). Chronic chorioamnionitis was associated with a higher maternal anti-HLA class I seropositivity (p<0.01), significant in preterm and term birth. Villitis of unknown etiology was associated with increased maternal and fetal anti-HLA class I and II seropositivity (p<0.05, for each). Fetal anti-HLA seropositivity was closely related to maternal anti-HLA seropositivity in both groups (p<0.01, for each). C4d deposition on umbilical vein endothelium was more frequent in preterm labor than term labor (77.1% vs. 11.4%, p<0.001). Logistic regression analysis revealed that chronic chorioamnionitis (OR = 6.10, 95% CI 1.29–28.83), maternal anti-HLA class I seropositivity (OR = 5.90, 95% CI 1.60–21.83), and C4d deposition on umbilical vein endothelium (OR = 36.19, 95% CI 11.42–114.66) were associated with preterm labor and delivery. Conclusions A major subset of spontaneous preterm births has a signature of maternal anti-fetal cellular and antibody-mediated rejections with links to fetal graft-versus-host disease and alloimmune reactions.


Relationship marketing (RM), the idea of establishing, maintaining and developing long-term customer relationships, is considered as one of the most important aspects for business success. This study focuses on the upper-end of relationship management, which is primarily concerned with maintaining and developing long-term strategic business relationships (SBRs) with a few selected, strategically important customers.
In this research, a comprehensive conceptual framework is developed to assess relationship quality (RQ) for both buyers and suppliers in SBRs. The dyadic approach in conjunction with a multi-strategy research design, consisting of a qualitative and quantitative study, provides an holistic overview of RQ and presents new insights into strategic buyer - supplier relationships. Consequently, the objectives of this study are firstly, to develop a research model for both buyers and suppliers in SBRs; secondly, to reveal details and differences in the RQ model between buyers and suppliers; and finally, to examine the effects of individual RQ factors on suppliers' business performance.
The study finds that the interpersonal RQ between a key account manager and a dedicated purchasing manager is fundamental for the success of a SBR. The findings suggest that the developed RQ model fits well to both buyers and suppliers. Furthermore, the results of this research support the assumption that RQ influences business performance and finds that account managers' perceived satisfaction best predicts business performance.
From a managerial perspective, this study helps managers to better understand RQ in SBRs as it comprises the perspectives of both buyers and suppliers. The multi-strategy research design and the qualitative study provide numerous examples of best practice methods. The quantitative part of the study also contains various benchmark results that can be used to assess other SBRs.


Milling is an important process in the post-harvest handling of red lentils. The effect of milling moisture content, milling speed and milling time on the dehulling characteristics of two varieties of red lentils, CDC Impact and CDC Redberry, was investigated. Response surface methodology with a central composite design was used to determine optimum milling conditions. Optimum milling conditions included: milling moisture content of 12.5%, milling speed of 1,100 RPM and dehulling time of 38 s. Milling with these parameters resulted in dehulling efficiencies of ≥ 85%. Various treatments (high heat drying, near ambient drying, and successive freezing and thawing cycles) were employed to simulate different storage conditions. Dehulling efficiency of both red lentil varieties was negatively affected by drying yet dehulling quality was not adversely affected by freezing and thawing. This work provides information necessary to establish post-harvest techniques that maximise the dehulling efficiency of red lentils.


The in vitro activities of the N,N-dimethylglycyl-amino derivative of minocycline (DMG-MINO) and 6-dimethyl-6-dexoxytetracycline (DMG-DMDOT), members of a new generation of tetracyclines, were evaluated by an agar dilution method and were compared with those of tetracycline and minocycline against 224 tetracycline-resistant and 73 tetracycline-susceptible recent clinical isolates of gram-positive cocci, including multiple-antibiotic-resistant methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae. The MICs of DMG-MINO and DMG-DMDOT were up to 500- to 2,000-fold lower than those of tetracycline against methicillin-resistant S. aureus and Streptococcus pneumoniae (MIC for 50% of strains tested [MIC50], < 0.06 microgram/ml). Against Streptococcus groups A, B, C, and G and Enterococcus faecalis, the MIC50 was 0.5 microgram/ml. MIC50s were greater only for coagulase-negative staphylococci (2 micrograms/ml). These data indicate that DMG-MINO and DMG-DMDOT are very potent drugs, and further in vitro and in vivo studies are warranted.


The studied area, a vast plain located in the South of Córdoba (Argentina), presents a relief resulting from the juxtaposition of an eolian and a fluvial system. The objective of this work was to characterize the unconfined aquifer from a dynamic and a geochemical point of view, establishing relationships with lithological and geomorphological features and validating with statistical multivariate analysis (Q mode) of the geochemical data. The unconfined aquifer presents variable hydraulic gradients and groundwater velocity, both conditioned by the local relief and lithology. The aquifer showed a varied spatial geochemical pattern with fresh to salty water (0.4–10.0 g/L) and sodium bicarbonate to sodium chloride geochemical types, in some places of mixed anionic type. The statistical analysis showed two groups: Group 1 links salty-brackish groundwater of sulfate and chloride type with longitudinal dunes and lowlands with locally outcropping water. It represents evolved groundwater coming from intermediate and regional flows. Group 2 links fresh groundwater of bicarbonate type with active dunes and paleochannels. In these sites, where coarser sediments prevail, local groundwater flow cells develop as a result of recent recharge, leading to greater groundwater velocity and decreasing the transference of ions to solution. These results allow us to identify the most promising areas for freshwater abstraction.


This paper investigates the periphrastic causative constructions of Lithuanian and Latvian on the basis of corpus data. It aims at compiling a preliminary list of basic and marginal verbs used in these constructions and describes the argument marking and the clause types used to express the caused events. On the basis of corpus data, the free forms employed in these constructions are ranked according to the frequency of their causative vs. non-causative use. It is shown that the main factitive construction is based on (pri-)versti in Lithuanian and likt in Latvian, while the most frequent model for the permissive construction is based on leisti in Lithuanian and ļaut in Latvian. The causees of the factitive constructions are marked by the accusative (with the most notable exception of Latvian likt), while the permissive constructions strongly prefer the dative. The caused events are expressed by infinitival or that-clauses and some reflexive causatives select participial complements.


This study assessed the undergraduates' perception and utilization of serial materials in Federal University of Petroleum Resources Library. The study sample population comprised 1,365 registered library users' registration statistics 2014/2015 academic session. The instrument used for data collection in this study was questionnaire. The major findings of the study revealed that main library serial section had highest respondents whereas newspapers and thesis were the serial materials regularly used by the respondents while some never or hardly used journals. The major challenges confronting utilize of serial units in Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun were some serial materials are not easily accessible, lack of space in serial section, delay in supplying of daily and lack of journals in my area of study etc. The followings recommendations were made; articles should be organized to improve students' knowledge/skills, lecturers should mandate the students to use journals, librarians should device other strategies of enlighten library users, serial section should be expanded, Training and seminar on the use of journals, among others.


This paper draws policy conclusions for the EU based on the studies performed for the Fifth Framework Programme on industrial competitiveness and other relevant literature. The issue of competitiveness of the new member states and the implications of enlargement for the EU as a whole and for individual member states is complex. This paper discusses the policy implications that result from the research undertaken in the context of this project and presents some additional considerations. Policy actions on industrial competitiveness may be taken at national or EU level. Understanding the positive and negative implications of specific policy interventions is very important, as national or sectoral interests can clash with an optimum EU policy. The paper generally recommends avoiding specific industrial policies, in particular at member state level, that would harm other member states. Industrial competitiveness depends heavily on the investment and economic climate in the member states. This paper recommends improving this climate and in particular completing the single market also for services.


Happy Friday, everyone. Here's what you can talk about with your barn buddies this weekend. The Kentucky Derby. I don't really follow racing, so my Derby pick is always the one with the weirdest name. None of the names in this year's field were speaking to me, but then I read this article about the source of each contender's name. Since I am also a fan of sports that no one pays attention to except during the Olympics, "Keen Ice," whose name comes from a curling term, is now my pick. You also can't go wrong with American Pharoah (sic) according to The Tonight Show's Puppy Predictor. And then, there's this story highlighting a darker side of the Thoroughbred industry, but with something of a positive twist. Pure Thoughts Foal Rescue in Florida takes on the foals of nursemares, byproducts of some of the racing world's breeding programs. Want to hear the pitter patter of little hooves without adding to the problem of overbreeding? These foals are up for adoption. The PAST Act, intended to increase protection for show horses—especially Tennessee Walking Horses—has been reintroduced in the senate. Now's the time to call your congresspeople. Someone tagged a LAPD police horse, and there's not much else I can add to that, except the headline calling this person a "graffiti artist" seems a little generous. Where do you ride your horse? If public trails are part of your world, pay attention. Hundreds of miles of trails in Virginia may be closed to horses. Once we lose 'em, we don't often get 'em back. The AQHA passed a rule change this week banning the use of lip chains in the halter ring, effective next year. HorseNation's Kristen Kovatch has a good roundup of the issue. And finally, make sure you catch up on all of our Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event coverage from last weekend, and if you're in the U.S., tune in to NBC on Sunday, May 3 at 12:30 p.m. to watch the highlights!


Big Brother just gets bigger. Are we worried? Distrust of a strong central government has been a recurrent theme in our political culture, from the Antifederalists through the Bush administration. What lies behind our preference for a weak central government? Are Americans still fearful of being swallowed whole by the leviathan? The Bennetts say not. Charting trends in American public opinion about big government from the 1930s to 1989, with emphasis on the last 25 years, they trace how we have adapted to a growing national government. They analyze what these opinions tell us about changing themes in American popular culture and document the significant differences in public opinion about big government, the positive state, and citizens' obligations. Typically, Americans want more government for less money. They want the feds out of their pockets but not necessarily off their backs. Reflexively opposed to higher taxes, they want more government spending for a host of programs and can be convinced of the need for more regulation. The Bennetts also look at how Americans of all ages feel about their duties as citizens and what the declining sense of obligation, particularly among the young, means for American political culture. Their findings have relevance for public opinion, public policy, democratic theory, political socialization, and presidential studies.


Exclusive and globally allocated radio spectrum is essential for safe and efficient air travel. This paper will focus on the impact of changes in both U.S. and international radio spectrum policy, describe the issues these changes have raised for the aeronautical community, and examine a few proposed solutions. First, the paper will put the Federal Aviation Administration in the context of the test and evaluation community. Common frequency usage will be examined and the major interactions between the Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Defense, and commercial sector test and evaluation activities. The paper will provide a review of several U.S. spectrum policies from the early-to-mid 90's which set the stage for the current domestic spectrum policy debates. For example, spectrum auctioning was formally established in the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 and further expanded in the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. Both of these Acts directed the transfer of radio spectrum that was allocated solely for Federal Government use to the private sector. These reallocations also set the stage for more recent domestic spectrum policy debates, such as that over ultrawideband devices, broadband service over powerline carrier, third generation wireless, and other new technologies that claim the ability to "share" radio spectrum with other existing users. The paper will also review international spectrum policy changes that were made within the International Telecommunication Union and their impact on aeronautical radio spectrum. These include reallocation of aeronautical radio spectrum for uses such as wireless local area networks and fixed satellite links. Yet another cause of reduction in the amount of aeronautical radio spectrum will be reviewed...that is, the increase in aeronautical requirements with no attendant increase in the overall aeronautical radio spectrum available. These increasing requirements include such critical spectrum needs as Global Navigation Satellite System modernization, growing applications which use very high frequency (VHF) air/ground radio spectrum, new automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast services, increased aeronautical telemetry needs, and use of unmanned aerial vehicles in the national airspace. This growth has resulted in increasing spectrum congestion in bands that support critical safety services for international civil aviation. Finally, the paper will consider potential solutions to the shortage of aeronautical radio spectrum. These solutions include use of new advanced technologies, "splitting" the current channelization, and changes in radio regulations and frequency engineering criteria. Examples of what the Federal Aviation Administration is doing to implement these solutions will also be briefly addressed.


Policies designed to increase the diversity of law review editors are being challenged in court. The lawsuits claim that, by "illegally us[ing] race and gender as criteria for selecting law students to staff their most elite academic journals," the law reviews have diminished the quality of the articles they publish. We test this claim by using citations as a measure of article impact and studying changes in diversity policies at the flagship law reviews of the top 20 law schools. Using data on the citations of articles published since 1960, we find no evidence that diversity policies for editor selection meaningfully decrease the impact of published articles. In fact, we find at least some evidence that diversity policies may actually increase the impact of published articles.

Note: On December 3, 2018, we posted a version of this paper on SSRN where we pre-committed to the approaches and specifications we use in this paper before we had the final dataset. That version can be assessed at https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract_id=3295334. We then circulated a call for help on social media asking current and former law review editors to share information on the diversity policies that law reviews have adopted. After receiving more information on law reviews' adoption of diversity policies, we re-ran the specifications that we pre-committed to in our initial draft. We have added robustness checks to this draft, but the main approaches and specifications are exactly the same.


Oxygen isotope records of five stalagmites from Hulu Cave near Nanjing bear a remarkable resemblance to oxygen isotope records from Greenland ice cores, suggesting that East Asian Monsoon intensity changed in concert with Greenland temperature between 11,000 and 75,000 years before the present (yr. B.P.). Between 11,000 and 30,000 yr. B.P., the timing of changes in the monsoon, as established with 230Th dates, generally agrees with the timing of temperature changes from the Greenland Ice Sheet Project Two (GISP2) core, which supports GISP2's chronology in this interval. Our record links North Atlantic climate with the meridional transport of heat and moisture from the warmest part of the ocean where the summer East Asian Monsoon originates.


In this paper a novel reuse approach called context-based modeling is proposed and applied for the modeling of business documents. Business documents constitute mutual agreements, often legally binding between business partners. Already existing document standards reduce the efforts of implementing data exchange. However, the specific properties of an organization entail a need for adaptation. We show that available reuse approaches do not support this appropriately. Context-based modeling is proposed based on the reuse mechanisms aggregation, restriction, and specialization. Context-based modeling aims at both, minimal preparation of reuse combined with a high degree of guidance to create suitable models. The proposal is conceptually explored and practically applied to evaluate the feasibility and efficiency of the approach.


Background & Aim: Flatulence is a condition which is defined as the presence of excessive amounts of air or gas in the stomach or intestine, leading to distension of the organs. Approximately 20% of people aged 65-93 have experienced abdominal distension, often due to gaseous build-up. A wide range of approaches, including chemical drugs and dietary modifications, are utilized to treat flatulence. One of the most common therapies for flatulence is dimethicone. On the other hand, the use of alternative therapies, particularly herbal remedies, is also becoming increasingly common. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of carmint as herbal therapy versus those of dimethicone on flatulence. Patients and Method: This double-blind, randomized, controlled, clinical trial was conducted on 82 patients with flatulence. After determining appropriate inclusion and exclusion criteria, the patients without any organic disorders were selected and randomly divided into two groups: 42 patients under herbal therapy with carmint in group A and 40 patients receiving dimethicone in group B. Both groups received the treatment for two weeks. Then the patients were followed up with phone calls one and three weeks after the beginning of the treatment and asked about their gastrointestinal symptoms. The symptoms were recorded in the checklists provided and the data were analyzed by SPSS version 13 using Chi-square, paired t-test, independent t-test, Mann-Whitney U test, and repeated measures. Results: At the end of the first week of follow-up, the mean changes of flatulence in groups A and B were 1.73(SD= 1.08) and 1.15(SD=1.00) respectively, suggesting that the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (P=0.019). In addition, the mean changes of distension in group A(1.21, SD=0.97) were significantly higher than group B (0.73, SD=1.06)(P=0.01). However, there were not any significant differences in the relapse of most of their symptoms after stopping the therapy in the third week of follow-up. Conclusion: Carminatives are among the oldest known remedies and were reportedly used by Hippocrates for gastrointestinal diseases. On the other hand, dimethicone is also useful in reducing froth in the lumen of the gastrointestinal tract. Nevertheless, in some studies dimethicone does not exhibit any beneficial effects on the symptoms of intestinal gas. In addition, our results show that the effect of carmint is significantly higher than that of dimethicone on relieving flatulence symptoms, especially in a short period.


Transparency is one of those terms that have many facets. It is used in different ways. It can refer to the openness of governmental functions. It can also refer to a country's economy. Or it can refer to various aspects of corporate governance and financial reporting. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, 1998) lists transparency as one element of good corporate governance. Kulzick (2004) and others (Blanchet, 2002; Prickett, 2002) view transparency from a user perspective. According to their view, transparency includes the following eight concepts: accuracy, consistency, appropriateness, completeness, clarity, time- liness, convenience, and governance and enforcement. This paper focuses on just one aspect of transparency – timeliness.


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Remodeling balloons are used to assist in endovascular coiling of aneurysms. We evaluated our experience with balloon-assisted coiling (BAC) in an attempt to determine whether this technique increased the rate of thrombus formation or symptomatic thromboembolic complications. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In 3 years, we treated 221 patients with intracranial aneurysms. Statistical analysis was performed to assess whether BAC increased the rate of thrombus formation or symptomatic thromboembolic complications. Patient demographics, aneurysm size, location, neck width, antiplatelet therapy, and rupture status were evaluated. RESULTS: We detected no statistically significant difference in rates of thrombus formation (14% versus 9% with and without BAC, respectively, P = 0.35) or symptomatic thromboembolic events (7% versus 5% with and without BAC, respectively, P = 0.76), though our power to detect small differences was limited. There was also no correlation with age, sex, rupture status, aneurysm size, or location. There was a significant increase in the rates of thrombus formation (6% versus 16%, P = 0.02) and symptomatic thromboembolic complications (3% versus 10%, P = 0.04) in aneurysms that were classified as narrow- or wide-necked, respectively. The use of clopidogrel was associated with a decrease in the rate of complications (P = 0.01). CONCLUSION: In this series, we detected no significant increase in the rates of either intraprocedural thrombus formation or symptomatic thromboembolic events in patients treated with BAC. Larger studies are required to confirm our observations. Wide-necked aneurysms were independently associated with increased rates of thrombus formation and symptomatic thromboembolic complications, whereas the use of clopidogrel was protective (P = 0.01).


COMM 0025 Fellows Proseminar I (SNF Paideia Program Course) The SNF Paideia Fellows Proseminar I introduces sophomore SNF Paideia Fellows to academic research and practice related to the civic engagement mission of the SNF Paideia program. We engage diverse perspectives on the purpose of higher education, the nature of citizenship, the value of civility, and the relationship between individual and community wellness. Students will develop their personal civic identity and wellness goals through intentional course exercises and assignments. The goal of the course is to equip students with the knowledge, skills, experiences, and ethical frameworks for healthy, sustainable and robust civic leadership at Penn and in their local, national, and global communities. This course is open only to SNF Paideia Fellows, who are required to take it during the fall of their sophomore year. Fall 0.5 Course Units


It seems that the legal position governing the rights of trust beneficiaries in relation to access to information has been marred by a lack of precision in the law and remains uncodified in statute. To determine the extent of this right, regard should be had to source documents such as the trust deed, case law, the common law and general jurisprudence. Here specific reference is made to the test set out in Doyle v Board of Executors, (the Doyle case) a related case discussion and the obiter dicta in various other cases.


Vascular Endothelial Growth Inhibitor (VEGI) is an endothelial cell autocrine factor and a member of the tumor necrosis family of ligands. VEGI is able to specifically inhibit endothelial cell growth and is an efficient inhibitor of angiogenesis. The molecular mechanisms of VEGI activity on endothelial cells remain undefined. Here we focused on two important steps in the signal transduction of VEGI. We first determined a role of NF-κB in VEGI-induced apoptosis. We found that inhibition of the NF-κB pathway resulted in an increased apoptotic potential of VEGI. We conclude that the NF-κB pathway plays a role in suppressing the apoptotic potential of VEGI. We next investigated the receptor responsible for VEGI-induced endothelial cell apoptosis. DR3 is a receptor for VEGI and thus we first focused on confirming if DR3 is the receptor responsible for VEGI-mediated endothelial cell death. We determined VEGI had diminished apoptotic activity in endothelial cells that are depleted of DR3 by siRNA. However, it was determined that the apoptotic stimuli, LPS and TNFα, were also unable to mediate cell death in DR3-depleted endothelial cells. We conclude that DR3 is mediating an intracellular event that is involved in controlling the apoptotic pathway. This is a novel role of DR3 that is yet to be described. However, this role of DR3 interferes with our analysis of the ligand/receptor relationship and therefore we were unable to confirm that DR3 is the receptor responsible for VEGI-induced apoptosis. We also provide preliminary evidence that VEGI is utilizing an unknown receptor to mediate NF-κB activation. We therefore provide several mechanisms to control VEGI-mediated endothelial cell death, one being the activation of NF-κB to suppress the apoptotic potential of VEGI and the needed presence of DR3 for VEGI to initiate apoptosis, a role that is possibly independent of ligand binding.


A conflict between one's professional life and one's family life may lead to lower well-being both at work and home. Most nurses are women who have traditionally reconciled their professional life with family life. One aim of this study was to examine the relationships between the work-family conflict (WFC),the family-work conflict (FWC), and the perception of job demands (quantitative workload and interpersonal conflicts at work). We intended also to examine the components of work engagement (vigour, dedication, and absorption) and turnover intentions. Another aim was to determine whether the variables that we examined are important for turnover intentions. This study comprised Polish registered nurses. The following instruments were used:Work-Family Conflict and Family-Work Conflict Scales (Netemeyer, Boles, &McMurrian, 1996), the Interpersonal Conflict at Work Scale and Quantitative Workload Index (Spector & Jex, 1998), the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale(Schaufeli, Bakker, & Salanova, 2006), and measures of turnover intentions (intention to leave the present workplace and intention to leave the nursing profession). The score on the scale to measure WFC was positively related to perceived workload and to both turnover intentions, while negatively related to vigour. The WFC was experienced significantly more intensively than FWC. The perception of differences in mean scale scores of job demands had a moderate effect on the FWC and WFC, while differences in mean scale scores of vigour had a strong effect on the WFC. WFC, quantitative workload and a low level of dedication were significant predictors of the intention to leave the present workplace, while the level of job demands was a significant predictor of theintention to leave the nursing profession. The results are interpreted and discussed using Hobfoll's Conservation of Resources theory.


This book presents a systematic account of the role of the personal spiritual ideal of wu-wei-literally "no doing," but better rendered as "effortless action"-in early Chinese thought. Edward Slingerland's analysis shows that wu-wei represents the most general of a set of conceptual metaphors having to do with a state of effortless ease and unself-consciousness. This concept of effortlessness, he contends, serves as a common ideal for both Daoist and Confucian thinkers. He also argues that this concept contains within itself a conceptual tension that motivates the development of early Chinese thought: the so-called "paradox of wu-wei," or the question of how one can consciously "try not to try." Methodologically, this book represents a preliminary attempt to apply the contemporary theory of conceptual metaphor to the study of early Chinese thought. Although the focus is upon early China, both the subject matter and methodology have wider implications. The subject of wu-wei is relevant to anyone interested in later East Asian religious thought or in the so-called "virtue-ethics" tradition in the West. Moreover, the technique of conceptual metaphor analysis-along with the principle of "embodied realism" upon which it is based-provides an exciting new theoretical framework and methodological tool for the study of comparative thought, comparative religion, intellectual history, and even the humanities in general. Part of the purpose of this work is thus to help introduce scholars in the humanities and social sciences to this methodology, and provide an example of how it may be applied to a particular sub-field.


There are two basic approaches to developing hydroelectric power facilities at Corps dams. The Corps can develop projects at the request of Congress through the authorization process. Non-Federal developers, including municipalities, utilities, and other public and private entities, can apply for a license to construct hydroelectric power facilities through the FERC process. Current policy now encourages non-Federal development except in those few cases where conflicts with the existing Corps project purposes would make it impractical. These policies will tend to increase the amount of hydroelectric power development by non-Federal entities and reduce Corps development at Corps dams. Given the potential resource and engineering, economic, environmental, and social incentives and obstacles confronting potential developers at Corps dams it is reasonable to expect that 5,000 MW of additional capacity will be developed at Corps dams by the year 1995.


There is clear demand for a global spatial public domain roads data set with improved geographic and temporal coverage, consistent coding of road types, and clear documentation of sources. The currently best available global public domain product covers only one-quarter to one-third of the existing road networks, and this varies considerably by region. Applications for such a data set span multiple sectors and would be particularly valuable for the international economic development, disaster relief, and biodiversity conservation communities, not to mention national and regional agencies and organizations around the world. The building blocks for such a global product are available for many countries and regions, yet thus far there has been neither strategy nor leadership for developing it. This paper evaluates the best available public domain and commercial data sets, assesses the gaps in global coverage, and proposes a number of strategies for filling them. It also identifies stakeholder organizations with an interest in such a data set that might either provide leadership or funding for its development. It closes with a proposed set of actions to begin the process.


The Article reviews the constitutional status of sister-state sovereign immunity. It argues that the parity requirement announced in Franchise Tax Board v. Hyatt [Hyatt II] (2016) is a temporary compromise that is supported by neither the purposes of the Full Faith and Credit Clause nor by cases cited by the Court. It further argues that parity is bad policy because parity overprotects states for acts they commit beyond their borders and under protects the interests of forum states in regulating conduct within their territorial jurisdiction.But the Article breaks from most scholarship. It suggests that the Court went too far in Nevada v. Hall (1979) in finding that nothing in the Constitution compels states to respect sister-state claims to sovereign immunity. But it does not endorse those critics who find absolute state immunity in policies of federalism. Instead it proposes a limited constitutional basis for sister-state immunity that grounds this immunity in territorial restrictions on judicial power that operated during the founding era. Under the proposed approach, states would enjoy sovereign immunity in a sister state court -- but only for acts they or their agents commit in their own territory. The article explains how this limited immunity accommodates the competing interests of the states and why it is superior to alternative proposals to ground sister-state immunity in international law.


In the wake of negative organizational events, research directs the involved actors to apologize. However, apologies often communicate two, distinct messages: responsibility (they take blame) and regret (they express remorse). Though theoretically and practically distinguishable, taking blame and expressing remorse, independently, have not received much research attention. This leaves an important gap, as organizational actors often do one without the other. My research compares the effectiveness of the two statements following a collective failure. Consistent with hypotheses, Study 1 revealed a preference for blame-taking and documented a reason: taking blame demonstrated more character than expressions of remorse did. Study 2 replicated these effects in a behavioral setting; it also documented a limit: taking blame was less helpful for intentional, versus unintentional, failures. Overall, this research sheds the first light on an important difference between taking blame and expressing remorse. Following a collective failure, people appear to hold a fairly strong preference for blame-taking.


How cells keep going in the face of adversity When cells experience stresses that affect their ability to process newly synthesized proteins, they turn down their rates of translation to help them survive the stress. They also turn on the translation of proteins that will help them cope with the misfolded proteins generated during stress. How do they turn down translation in general, but maintain or increase translation of specific proteins? Starck et al. developed an approach that allowed them to look at the translation of specific messenger RNAs that were not down-regulated by stress. They identified a motif that helped keep chaperone protein synthesis going. Science, this issue p. 10.1126/science.aad3867 Protein translation from open reading frames with alternative initiation codons occurs during induction of cellular stress responses. INTRODUCTION Protein synthesis is controlled by a plethora of developmental and environmental conditions. One intracellular signaling network, the integrated stress response (ISR), activates one of four kinases in response to a variety of distinct stress stimuli: the endoplasmic reticulum (ER)–resident kinase (PERK), the interferon-induced double-stranded RNA–dependent eIF2α kinase (PKR), the general control nonderepressible 2 (GCN2), or the heme-regulated inhibitor kinase (HRI). These four kinases recognize a central target and phosphorylate a single residue, Ser51, on the α subunit of the eukaryotic initiation factor 2 (eIF2α), which is a component of the trimeric initiation factor eIF2 that catalyzes translation initiation at AUG start codons. Phosphorylation of eIF2α down-regulates eIF2-dependent protein synthesis, which is important in development and immunity but also is implicated in neurodegeneration, cancer, and autoimmunity. However, protein synthesis does not cease on all mRNAs during the ISR. Rather, eIF2α phosphorylation is required for expression of select mRNAs, such as ATF4 and CHOP, that harbor small upstream open reading frames (uORFs) in their 5′ untranslated regions (5′ UTRs). Still other mRNAs sustain translation despite ISR activation. We developed tracing translation by T cells (3T) as an exquisitely sensitive technique to probe the translational dynamics of uORFs directly during the ISR. With 3T, we measured the peptide products of uORFs present in the 5′ UTR of the essential ER-resident chaperone, binding immunoglobulin protein (BiP), also known as heat shock protein family A member 5 (HSPA5), and characterized their requirement for BiP expression during the ISR. RATIONALE We repurposed the sensitivity and specificity of T cells to interrogate the translational capacity of RNA outside of annotated protein coding sequences (CDSs). 3T relies on insertion of a tracer peptide coding sequence into a candidate DNA sequence. The resulting mRNAs harboring the nested tracer peptide coding sequence are translated to produce tracer peptides. These translation products are processed and loaded onto major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC I) molecules in the ER and transit to the cell surface, where they can be detected by specific T cell hybridomas that are activated and quantified using a colorimetric reagent. 3T provides an approach to interrogate the thousands of predicted uORFs in mammalian genomes, characterize the importance of uORF biology for regulation, and generate fundamental insights into uORF mutation-based diseases. RESULTS 3T proved to be a sensitive and robust indicator of uORF expression. We measured uORF expression in the 5′ UTR of mRNAs at multiple distinct regions, while simultaneously detecting expression of the CDS. We directly measured uORF peptide expression from ATF4 mRNA and showed that its translation persisted during the ISR. We applied 3T to study BiP expression, an ER chaperone stably synthesized during the ISR. We showed that the BiP 5′ UTR harbors uORFs that are exclusively initiated by UUG and CUG start codons. BiP uORF expression bypassed a requirement for eIF2 and was dependent on the alternative initiation factor eIF2A. Both translation of the UUG-initiated uORF and eIF2A were necessary for BiP expression during the ISR. Unexpectedly, the products of uORF translation are predicted to generate MHC I peptides active in adaptive immunity. We propose that this phenomenon presents an extracellular signature during the ISR. CONCLUSION Our findings introduce the notion that cells harbor a distinct translation initiation pathway to respond to a variety of environmental conditions and cellular dysfunction. We showed that cells utilize a distinct, eIF2A-mediated initiation pathway, which includes uORF translation, to sustain expression of particular proteins during the ISR. 3T offers a valuable method to characterize the thousands of predicted translation events in 5′ UTRs and other noncoding RNAs and, expanded to a genome-wide scale, can complement ribosome profiling and mass spectrometry in uORF and short ORF discovery. Our observations underscore the importance of translation outside of annotated CDSs and challenge the very definition of the U in 5′ UTR. 3T reveals the translational landscape of the genome outside of annotated coding sequences. Tracer peptide coding sequences are inserted into regions outside the annotated CDS, such as uORFs. When translated, they generate peptides that are transported into the ER, loaded onto MHC I, and transit to the cell surface. T cell hybridomas that recognize the specific tracer peptide–MHC I complex become activated, which is detected using a colorimetric substrate. Translated regions distinct from annotated coding sequences have emerged as essential elements of the proteome. This includes upstream open reading frames (uORFs) present in mRNAs controlled by the integrated stress response (ISR) that show "privileged" translation despite inhibited eukaryotic initiation factor 2–guanosine triphosphate–initiator methionyl transfer RNA (eIF2·GTP·Met-tRNAiMet). We developed tracing translation by T cells to directly measure the translation products of uORFs during the ISR. We identified signature translation events from uORFs in the 5′ untranslated region of binding immunoglobulin protein (BiP) mRNA (also called heat shock 70-kilodalton protein 5 mRNA) that were not initiated at the start codon AUG. BiP expression during the ISR required both the alternative initiation factor eIF2A and non–AUG-initiated uORFs. We propose that persistent uORF translation, for a variety of chaperones, shelters select mRNAs from the ISR, while simultaneously generating peptides that could serve as major histocompatibility complex class I ligands, marking cells for recognition by the adaptive immune system.


England's health secretary, Andrew Lansley, has been ordered by the information commissioner to release a document that the Department of Health has sought to keep under wraps: its strategic risk register outlining the risks that his controversial reforms could pose to the NHS.

The department refused requests under the Freedom of Information Act from John Healey, the opposition Labour Party's former health spokesman, and the London Evening Standard newspaper for disclosure of its strategic risk register.

It argued that making the risk assessment public "would jeopardise its ability to manage the transition and modernisation of the NHS, which would be detrimental to the totality of the policy, thereby risking the implementation of government policy and taxpayers' money."

However, the information commissioner, Christopher Graham, ruled on 2 November that "the factors are finely balanced in this case, but the considerable public …


We reconsider costs in insurance, and suggest a new type of cost function, which we argue is a natural choice when there are relatively small, but frequent, claims. If a fixed cost is incurred each time a claim is made, we obtain a Pareto optimal deductible even if the cost function does not vary with the indemnity. The classical result says that deductibles appear if and only if costs are variable. This implies that when the claims are relatively small, it is not optimal for the insured to be compensated, since the costs outweigh the benefits and a deductible will naturally occur. When we constrain the contract to contain a cap, a non-trivial deductible is Pareto optimal regardless of the assumptions about the cost structure, which is what is known as an XL-contract.


The aim of this paper is to set out some features of Kant's conception of transcendental philosophy. I would like to argue that this philosophy, although it is situated at a higher level of discourse than common knowledge, does not essentially transcend the limits that it sets to this knowledge. In order to achieve this, I stress the fact that Kant regards experience as a mere "possibility." Now, the Critique of Pure Reason explains that the human understanding cannot conceive of an absolute possibility, but only a relative one, namely a possibility that is tied to conditions. And possible experience as a whole is no exception here. Hence the expression "conditions of the possibility of experience" which designates the topic of the Transcendental Analytic. This also means that experience is "contingent" (A 737/B 765). It is not in itself necessary; rather, it is dependent upon certain conditions. But then we learn that the most important transcendental conditions for this experience, i.e., the dynamic principles, are themselves "contingent" (A 160/B 199). Consequently, these transcendental conditions are not unconditioned; they in turn depend on empirical conditions, over which they have no control.


Energy plays a fundamental role in both manufacturing and services, and natural gas is quickly becoming a key energy source worldwide. Facilitating this emergence is the expanding network of ocean-going vessels that enable the matching of natural gas supply and demand on a global scale by transporting it in the form of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for eventual regasification at its destination. Until very recently only one type of technology has been available for transporting and regasifying LNG: Conventional LNG vessels and land based LNG regasification. It is now possible to transport and regasify LNG onboard special LNG vessels. Companies such as Excelerate Energy and Hoegh LNG are currently developing LNG supply chains based on this new technology. Motivated by this recent development we engaged executives at Excelerate Energy to develop and apply to data an integrated analytic framework to compare these incumbent and emerging technologies. Our analysis brings to light basic principles delineating when to deploy each technology and how to configure the emerging technology. Some of our findings challenge conventional wisdom on the role to be played by the emerging technology; others provide answers to open questions faced by companies currently engaged in the commercial deployment of this technology. In addition, our integrated analytic framework has potential relevance for the evaluation of new technologies beyond this specific application.


Bechhofer and Turnbull (1978) considered the problems of selecting the best normal population, provided it is better than a standard for the case of known variances or equal but unknown variances. Wilcox (1984) considered the same selection goal for the case of unequal unknown variance and provided the appropriate probability equations and the necessary table. Under the same selection formulation (which we will describe formally in the following sections), this article studies a class of composite inverse sampling procedures for selecting the best multinomial cell that is better than a control cell with unknown cell probability. The procedures guarantee that (a) with probability at least P*0 (specified), no cell is selected when the largest cell probability is sufficiently less than the control and (b), with probability at least P*1 (specified), the cell with the largest probability is selected when its probability is sufficiently greater than the second largest cell probability and the control cell probability.


Abstract This paper argues that significant places in the sport of skateboarding are banal urban spaces. These locations are made meaningful through interaction, history and media coverage. This has resulted in the emotional attachment and veneration of places that are overlooked by the general public. Building on cultural geography and the literature on pilgrimage, an analysis of sacred space and secular pilgrimage is presented. Skateboarders are shown to be deeply engaged with places that have been inscribed with historic meaning. Media is shown to be instrumental in making and communicating the importance of skateboarding 'spots'. Through textual analysis and ethnographic work a distinction is made on the importance of space. Skateboarders are shown to perform secular pilgrimages, and to be emotionally invested in the history of particular sites. Skateboarding, unlike other sports, privileges places that are not legitimate sporting locations. The stadiums of skateboarders are urban settings, handrails, curbs and steps.


Objectives The objective of this study was to evaluate the compatibility of 10 commonly used active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) compounded in oral suspensions using a globally available suspending vehicle (SyrSpend SF PH4 liquid): caffeine 10.0 mg/mL, carvedilol 1.0 mg/mL, clomipramine hydrochloride 5.0 mg/mL, folic acid 1.0 mg/mL, hydrochlorothiazide 5.0 mg/mL, loperamide hydrochloride 1.0 mg/mL, methotrexate 2.5 mg/mL, nadolol 10.0 mg/mL, naltrexone hydrochloride 1.0 mg/mL and pentoxifylline 20.0 mg/mL, stored at both controlled refrigerated (2–8°C) and room (20–25°C) temperature. Methods Compatibility was assessed by measuring the per cent recovery at different time points throughout a 90-day period. Quantification of the APIs was performed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC-UV) using a stability-indicating method. Results Methods were adequately validated. Forced degradation studies showed that at least one parameter influenced the stability of the APIs. All suspensions were assayed and showed API contents of between 90% and 110% over 90 days. Discussion Given the percentage of recovery of the APIs within the suspensions, the expiration date of the final products (API+vehicle) was found to be at least 90 days for all suspensions, for both controlled refrigerated and room temperature. Conclusions The results suggest that SyrSpend SF PH4 liquid is a stable suspending vehicle for compounding APIs from different pharmacological classes.


GPS trajectory is one of the most significant data sources in intelligent transportation systems (ITS). A simple application is to use these data sources to help companies or organizations identify users' travel behavior. However, since GPS trajectory is directly related to private data (e.g., location) of users, citizens are unwilling to share their private information with the third-party. How to identify travel modes while protecting the privacy of users is a significant issue. Fortunately, Federated Learning (FL) framework can achieve privacy-preserving deep learning by allowing users to keep GPS data locally instead of sharing data. In this paper, we propose a Roust Federated Learning-based Travel Mode Identification System to identify travel mode without compromising privacy. Specifically, we design an attention augmented model architectures and leverage robust FL to achieve privacy-preserving travel mode identification without accessing raw GPS data from the users. Compared to existing models, we are able to achieve more accurate identification results than the centralized model. Furthermore, considering the problem of non-Independent and Identically Distributed (non-IID) GPS data in the realworld, we develop a secure data sharing strategy to adjust the distribution of local data for each user, thereby the proposed model with non-IID data can achieve accuracy close to the distribution of IID data. Extensive experimental studies on a real-world dataset demonstrate that the proposed model can achieve accurate identification without compromising privacy and being robust to real-world non-IID data.


Urban residential expansion increasingly drives land use, land cover and ecological changes worldwide, yet social science theories explaining such change remain under-developed. Existing theories often focus on processes occurring at one scale, while ignoring other scales. Emerging evidence from four linked U.S. research sites suggests it is essential to examine processes at multiple scales simultaneously when explaining the evolution of urban residential landscapes. Additionally, focusing on urbanization dynamics across multiple sites with a shared research design may yield fruitful comparative insights. The following processes and social-hierarchical scales significantly influence the spatial configurations of residential landscapes: household-level characteristics and environmental attitudes; formal and informal institutions at the neighborhood scale; and municipal-scale land-use governance. While adopting a multi-scale and multi-site approach produces research challenges, doing so is critical to advancing understanding of coupled socio-ecological systems and associated vulnerabilities in a dynamic and environmentally important setting: residential landscapes.


As students progress through our education system they at, increasingly asked to independently comprehend and mmpose informational material to show evidence of their ability to use and learn from texts, One skill which facilitates students' abilities to learn from texts is summarizing. Research into summarizing suggests it is a complex skill needing explicit and systematic instruction, However, materials to which teachers turn to for advice on strategies and instruction do not always reflect the findings of research. This being the case, this study set out to investigate what teachers understood about the nature of summarizing and the extent to which instruction was being provided in summarizing. With the need for increased independent learning from texts in secondary school settings, this study also aimed to investigate the difference between upper primary and lower serondary teachers' understandings and knowledge about the nature and provision of instruction in summarizing. A descriptive/analytical study was ronducted with eleven teachers from Western Australian primary and secondary schools. Teachers were asked to individually plan and administer an 'ideal' lesson involving summarizing. Following the administration of the 'ideal' lesson, teachers were interviewed and responses transcribed. Data from the teacher's lesson plan, interview and students' marked summaries were triangulated to present case scenarios. The case scenarios were .analysed to describe the nature and provision of instruction in summarizing. 4 The study found that teachers' instructions and acti.vities implied an ·awareness of the use of ~election, condensing and transforming skills, however teachers did not deliberately and consciously make these skills explicit to their students. Teachers' ~1\owledge about the nature of summarizing and subsequently their proVision of instruction were directly influenced by their purposes for asking students to summarise. In addition, four teaching orientations emerged which describe a developmental trend in which systematic instruction and opportunities to practise summarizing appear to decrease as students progress through the education system. This developmental trend is manifested in upper primary teachers tending to have an integrated process and task orientation to summarizing whilst secondary teachers demonstrated content and assessment orientations.


A methodology for automated objective circulation pattern (CP) definition and classifi- cation is presented based on optimized fuzzy rules. The main goal of the method is to provide a basis (daily classified CPs) for downscaling of precipitation and temperature, which can be done by means of downscaling models with parameters depending on the CP. The CPs are defined using 500 or 700 hPa geopotential height anomalies. Fuzzy rules are defined by the position of high- and low- pressure anomalies. The fuzzy rules are obtained automatically using an optimization of the perfor- mance of the classification. For precipitation, the performance of the classification is measured by rainfall frequencies and rainfall amounts conditioned on the CP. So the task is to define wet or dry CPs. For temperature, the deviation from the average long-term annual cycle is used. In this way warm or cold CPs are identified. The performance of the CPs is validated using a split-sampling approach. The presented method produces physically realistic CP definitions. With the help of these definitions the observed (historical) pressure fields can be classified as shown in 2 case studies for regions with different climate conditions: Central Europe (Germany) and the Eastern Mediterranean (Greece).


The performance of a statistical signal processing system is determined in large part by the accuracy of the probabilistic model it employs. Accurate modeling often requires working in several dimensions, but doing so can introduce dimensionality-related difficulties. A previously introduced model circumvents some of these difficulties while maintaining accuracy sufficient to account for much of the high-order, nonlinear statistical interdependence of samples. Properties of this model are reviewed, and its power demonstrated by application to image restoration and compression. Also described is a vector quantization (VQ) scheme which employs the model in entropy coding a Z/sup N/-lattice. The scheme has the advantage over standard VQ of bounding maximum instantaneous errors.<<ETX>>


The sea cucumber is an aquatic marine invertebrate that belongs to Class Holothuroidea, Phylum Echinodermata. It is globally traded because its dried product – commonly known as "balat," "bat," "gamat," or "trepang" in Asia and "bêche-de-mer" in France – is used as an exotic This study established the DNA barcodes of 19 economically important Philippine sea cucumbers belonging to Class Holothuroidea under Phylum Echinodermata using the cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) gene. These include sea cucumbers from the Family Holothuriidae under Order Aspidochirotida: Bohadschia marmorata, B. koellikeri, B. vitiensis, B. argus, Bohadschia sp. 1, Actinopyga echinites, A. lecanora, Holothuria scabra, H. fuscogilva, H. atra, H. impatiens, and H. albiventer; from the Family Stichopodiidae under Order Aspidochirotida: Stichopus horrens, S. monotuberculatus, S. vastus, S. hermanni, S. chloronotus, and Thelenota ananas; and from the Family Phyllophoriidae under Order Dendochirotida was Neocucumis proteus. Based on Kimura-2 pairwise (K2P) distances, low genetic variation within species of 0.005–0.018 was observed except for several species such as S. chloronotus, H. albiventer, A. echinites, and H. scabra – which had 0.057, 0.181, 0.207, and 0.215 within-species genetic variations, respectively. On the other hand, variation between species within a genus was 0.123 for Bohadschia, 0.18 for Actinopyga, 0.19 for Holothuria, and 0.071 for Stichopus. Phylogenetic tree using neighbor-joining analysis showed monophyletic clades for the genera Bohadschia, Actinopyga, Stichopus, Thelenota, and Neocucumis while paraphyletic clade was formed for the genus Holothuria. COI DNA sequences and barcodes were established for the first time for Neocucumis proteus and Holothuria albiventer.


Living Islam: Muslim Religious Experience in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province, by Magnus Marsden. Cambridge UK and New York: Cambridge University Press. 2006. xvi + 263 pages. Maps. Bibl. Index. $75 cloth; $29.99 paper. This book very attractively elucidates everyday moral arguments and verbal aesthetics characteristic of rural Islam in highland Asia. Its unusual setting is the remote mountainous region of Chitral, the northernmost district of the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan. Its major topic concerns intellectual debates and reflections about moral proprieties, expressed mainly by young men in a large village community of northern Chitral. Listening to their conversations - to community gossip, family biographies, poetical recitations, and sometimes earnestly debated metaphysical reflections - Marsden adumbrates the discursive principles and idioms by which Chitralis judge and justify their personal conduct. He shows that puritanical demands of reformist Islam - primarily proselytized by Pashtun missionaries - are carefully deliberated and challenged by Chitrali youth, who tend to draw on a more relaxed Central Asian Islamic culture, sanctioned by local traditions of refined poetic expression and musical performance. In view of Marsden's recent fleldwork - coinciding with the rise and fall of the Taliban government in adjacent Afghanistan, and with Sunni Islamist coalitions ever active throughout the North-West Frontier Province - it is understandable that currently troubled definitions of Islamic morality and public conduct take center stage. This topical agenda was even urged on the ethnographer by his Chitrali friends, who ought to be well satisfied with its sympathetic and sensitive depictions of their moral opinions and dilemmas. Yet this polemical stance (sometimes didactically pitched against the unfairly presumed prejudices of an occidental readership) may have occasionally occluded equally pertinent considerations of regional history. For example, similar contests between puritanical and humanistic or Sufi-inspired ideologies of Islam have recurred in Chitral since at least the middle of the 20th century (typically entangled with peasant class resentments politically directed against its landowning nobility) when this former princely state was dissolved and gradually absorbed into the new nation of Pakistan. Comparing Marsden's account with John Staley's evocative memories of this transitional era,1 one discerns that many of the intense moral debates and anxieties expressed here are legacies of longstanding inter-generational dialogues. These have arguably reflected shifting status aspirations and disappointed economic expectations as much as avowed religious convictions. Several of Marsden's highly articulate and reflective informants would appear to be scions of formerly privileged status groups, ideationally affiliated with the cultural legacy of the old princely state, whose elders once patronized the indulgent poetical and musical traditions that are justly celebrated here. …


Background The BAFF (or BLyS) cytokine plays a key role in pathogenesis of primary Sjogren's syndrome (pSS), thus testing belimumab (biological treatment inhibiting soluble BAFF/BLyS) in pSS patients, seems appealing. Clinical results of the BELISS study have been previously reported [1]. Objectives To address changes in blood lymphocyte sub-populations and labial salivary gland (LSG) inflammation after belimumab in patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) and identify predictors of response to treatment.To address changes in blood lymphocyte sub-populations and labial salivary gland (LSG) inflammation after belimumab in patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) and identify predictors of response to treatment. Methods Sequential blood lymphocyte subsets and LSG biopsies were analysed between week 0 (W0) and W28 in 15 pSS patients (all females, median age =44 [36.5-63.5] years, median disease duration=1 [0.5-6.5] years) treated with belimumab. Systemic response to treatment was defined as a decrease of the ESSDAI ≥3 points at W28. Results After belimumab, we observed a decrease in blood B lymphocytes primarily involving CD27-IgD+ naïve B-cells (151 [24-186] at W0 vs 10 [6-40] at W28, p=0.008, n=9). No significant change in the total lymphocyte, total T-cell, CD4 or CD8 T-cell counts was observed. By contrast, there was a significant increase in the number of NK cells (p=0.032) Regarding histological pattern, lymphocytic sialadenitis (focus score >1) present in 12 (80.0%) patients before belimumab, became negative in 5 after treatment (p=0.03). The median LSG B-cell /T-cell ratio decreased from 0.58 [0.5-0.67] to 0.50 [0.5-0.5] (p=0.06). BAFF staining was detected in 11/14 (78.6%) patients, before, compared to 7/14 (50.0%) after belimumab (p=0.10). The median percentage of BAFF positive cells in foci significantly decreased from 27.5% [10-40] to 5% [0-20], after belimumab (p=0.03). Systemic response was obtained in 6 (40%) patients. The only predictor of response was the presence of a low number of NK cells both in blood (8.5% [7-10] vs. 11% [9-21], p=0.04) and in LSG (20.6/mm3 [20.0-21.4] vs 30.0/mm3 [25.0-100.0], p=0.003). Serum BAFF levels did not influence response to treatment. Conclusions Low blood and salivary NK cells numbers are associated with a better response to belimumab. This suggests that 2 distinct subsets of pSS may exist: one with predominant type-I INF/BAFF/B-cell axis, good responders to belimumab, and one with predominant type-II IFN/NK-cell axis, non-responders. References Mariette X, Seror R, Quartuccio L, Baron G, Salvin S, Fabris M, et al. Efficacy and safety of belimumab in primary Sjogren's syndrome: results of the BELISS open-label phase II study. Annals of the rheumatic diseases. 2013. Disclosure of Interest None declared


Objectives: One of the endpoints for assessing the emergency department (ED) performance is the left-without-being-seen (LWBS) proportion. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of increasing proportions of on-duty emergency medicine (EM) trainees on LWBS rates in clinical shifts. Methods: The study was conducted at an urban-academic-ED (annual census: 452,757) over a period of one year. We employed multivariate linear regression (p < 0.05) defining significance to identify and adjust for multiple LWBS influencers related to patient care. Results: After analyzing over 1098 shifts, the median LWBS rate was 8.9% (interquartile range 5.3% to 13.5%). The increasing number of EM trainees in the ED did not adversely impact the LWBS; the opposite was noted. In univariate analysis, the increasing proportion of on-duty EM trainee physicians was significantly (p < 0.001) associated with a decrease in the LWBS rates. The multivariate model adjusted for the statistically significant and confounding LWBS influencers, with an absolute increase of 1% in trainees' proportion of overall on-duty physician coverage, was associated with an absolute decrease of 2.1% in LWBS rates (95% confidence interval 0.43% to 3.8%, p = 0.014). Conclusions: At the study site, there was a statistically and operationally significant improvement in LWBS associated with partial replacement of board-certified specialist-grade EM physicians with EM residents and fellow trainees.


A study was conducted to evaluate the potential of macadamia oil cake meal (MOCM) and wood ash as feed ingredients for poultry under subsistence farming conditions. In this article, the effect of these ingredients on bone characteristics is reported. Two hundred and eighty eight day-old New Hampshire chickens were used in the study. The research was conducted as a 3 x 2 factorial design, and 48 chicks were randomly allocated per treatment. Three basic diets were formulated: one without MOCM and the other two containing 10% and 50% MOCM. The MOCM contained 132 g/kg of crude protein, 228 g/kg crude fat and 365 g/kg crude fibre on an 'as-fed' basis. Each of these three treatments was split into two: one receiving feed lime (CaCO3) as the main source of calcium; and the other wood ash, which contained 257 g Ca/kg. All diets contained a Ca level of ca. 10 g/kg. The chickens received the experimental diets from 2 to 15 weeks of age. After week 15, eight chickens per treatment were killed and their right legs removed at the femorotibial articulation and frozen for later evaluation. Between Ca sources there were no significant differences in tibia weight, diameter, volume, density and breaking strength. The ash content and Ca, P and Mg concentrations in bone ash between Ca sources were similar. However, in the two Ca diets containing 50% MOCM the Ca and P concentrations of the tibiae were significantly lower than in the diets containing lower levels of MOCM. It was concluded that wood ash was as effective as feed lime in supplying Ca to chickens. However, some practical problems in the feeding of wood ash became apparent, such as that wood ash is a fine powder and does not mix well with other ingredients, except when the oil content of the diet is high, as with the treatments containing MOCM.


State of the art data mining and image retrieval in community photo collections typically focus on popular subsets, e.g. images containing landmarks or associated to Wikipedia articles. We propose an image clustering scheme that, seen as vector quantization compresses a large corpus of images by grouping visually consistent ones while providing a guaranteed distortion bound. This allows us, for instance, to represent the visual content of all thousands of images depicting the Parthenon in just a few dozens of scene maps and still be able to retrieve any single, isolated, non-landmark image like a house or graffiti on a wall. Starting from a geo-tagged dataset, we first group images geographically and then visually, where each visual cluster is assumed to depict different views of the the same scene. We align all views to one reference image and construct a 2D scene map by preserving details from all images while discarding repeating visual features. Our indexing, retrieval and spatial matching scheme then operates directly on scene maps. We evaluate the precision of the proposed method on a challenging one-million urban image dataset.


For over twenty years psychologists have been using information and communication technology to design solutions aimed at improving mental health and quality of life of their clients or patients. One of those solutions are internet interventions. Although these interventions are commonly used in other countries, knowledge about them in Poland is limited. The aim of the article is to introduce to the topic of psychological internet interventions by describing the basic functionalities of internet interventions, the context of their use, their classification, areas where they can be applied and challenges related to their future development and wider implementation.


Ovulation biosensors are devices worn on or used with the body, which can help women detect ovulation. The manufacturers of such devices claim that if women know when they ovulate, couples can arrange heterosexual intercourse during this time, and thus increase their chances of conceiving. Within the contemporary UK context, in which becoming pregnant is presented in the popular media, and in medical discourses, as more difficult for women in their thirties and forties, manufacturers' claims are attractive for those trying to conceive. Yet few sociological studies have examined women's practices of ovulation biosensing. Drawing on women's accounts of tracking ovulation, this paper explores how such practices fit into their trajectories of trying to conceive. It examines why ovulation biosensing seemingly becomes helpful, relevant or important during this time. Ovulation biosensors, it argues, alter the landscape of trying to become pregnant by introducing new stages and materialities which seemingly place women closer to conception. Women engage in ovulation biosensing, not only to help them become pregnant, but also as a way to manage the complexities of fertility and the uncertainties of becoming pregnant in contemporary society.