At the end of its last term, the Supreme Court held in Pereira v. Sessions that a notice to appear at removal proceedings that does not include the time and place of the proceedings cannot interrupt the continuous physical presence requirement that may entitle a noncitizen to cancellation of removal. Since the decision was announced, there has been a feverous debate about whether the case applies not just when cancellation of removal is sought but to all immigration removal proceedings since every judicial removal proceeding is initiated with a notice to appear. Immigration advocates argue, and some courts have already agreed, that Pereira applies to all adversarial removal proceedings and that the case necessarily means that immigration courts lack subject matter jurisdiction in any case that began with a notice to appear that did not include the time and place of the proceedings. By contrast, the government's view — and that of a number of other courts — is that Pereira is very limited in its application. To help lawyers and judges think clearly about the case's impact, this paper offers an assessment of the issues raised. I reach several major conclusions that, collectively, are at odds with positions advanced on both sides. As for Pereira's scope, I conclude that it applies to all removal proceedings and is not confined to the narrower context in which the case arose. However, I reject the view that treating improper notice is relevant to the immigration court's jurisdiction over removal proceedings. But while a defective notice is irrelevant to the court's jurisdiction, there still are consequences if the government has served a defective notice. I show that whether, and in what cases, a Pereira challenge may matter turns on three factors: Pereira's applicability, either prospectively or retroactively; the possibility of forfeiture; and, finally, the noncitizen's ability to demonstrate prejudice in the underlying removal proceeding resulting from service of a defective notice.


On looking back the history of second language learning (SLA), one can clearly see the shift beginning from structural approaches to cognitive, naturalist, socio cultural, communicative approaches, then contextualized and much later ecological ones. Although each approach comes out by criticizing the previous one/ones in different fields, they are just like a complement of each other in terms of SLA. To illustrate, cognitivists criticizes structuralism in that structural linguists see the language as only a linear, systematic system in which teaching takes place in forming habits through pre-selected, pre-sequenced linguistic forms. What cognitive linguists believe that learning a language cannot be limited to what is taught as linguistic forms since learners can create infinite number of sentences using finite rules of grammar and they add there should be something which helps learners to use the second language (L2) cognitively. It is sure that language cannot be regarded without linguistic forms and may need explicit explanation with a continual and conscious attention until it becomes automatic as structural linguists have suggested. In addition, being able to understand mental procedure happening during language learning provides learners to become more aware of their own learning process and benefit from whenever it is needed as cognitivists have mentioned. Just like in this example, the new perspective meets the deficit of the previous one. By the time SLA reaches its postmodern era, each forthcoming approach, technique, method, or procedure brings a new look to language itself, to language learning, and to second language learning via complementing a part which has not been considered before. In this case, it is certain that we can expect the newest approach is the most complex and the most inclusive of all. Despite the fact that postmodernism brings a broader viewpoint to SLA, there are some assumptions which are still fresh to debate. This paper aims to explain the significance of individual variability in L2 as a central construct and whether the experiences in physical and social world support language learning or not.


Quantitative and qualitative changes in the pectin fractions of two bael selections (CISH B-1 and CISH B-2) were estimated during fruit development between 150 and 345 days after fruit set (DAFS). The fruits were evaluated for alcohol insoluble solids (AIS), three pectin fractions (water, ammonium oxalate and alkali soluble), total soluble solids (TSS) and titratable acidity. An increase in TSS and titratable acidity in both the bael selections was noticed with the advancement of fruit development. Initially, Alcohol insoluble solids decreased during 150 to 210 DAFS, followed by a significant increase up to 335 DAFS, which decreased finally in fruits of CISH B-1 and CISH B-2 harvested at 345 DAFS. The total pectin did not change significantly throughout the growth period. The water-soluble pectin decreased initially in both the selections and increased significantly thereafter. However, alkali-soluble pectin showed an increasing trend initially and then decreased with the advancement of maturity in both the selections. The ammonium oxalate-soluble fraction of pectin remained low throughout the growth period in both the selections. The transition of pectin fractions (increase in water-soluble pectin and decrease in alkali-soluble pectin) in these two bael selections indicated that harvest maturity was attained around 300 DAFS.


Comparing actual output with the expected output of some controlled input is a fundamental principle of program correctness testing. However, in some situations, the input is uncontrollable or even undetectable during testing and, hence, it is impossible to decide the expected output or the test oracle. We encountered this problem when we developed programs to extract network data from various mobile stations in the mobile location estimation system project. We propose testing the trustworthiness of the programs instead. Since the input is uncontrollable and undetectable, program output is analyzed and challenged against with the intrinsic properties, environment, the program output itself and their application results, to find evidence that the output is suitable to be used for the planned purposes. Furthermore, in the case of mobile software development, it is common that different programs of the same specification have to be developed for mobile stations of different models. These different implementations provide another source of reference for trustworthiness tests. Our experience of applying trustworthiness test in extracting network data from mobile stations is reported in this paper.


High trophic level consumers such as demersal fish influence the trophic structure of marine benthic communities. Owing to their high mobility, consumers could act as integrators by connecting food webs. But do fish species in the North Sea link food webs of benthic communities or do they feed habitat dependent on a local scale? We examined the diet of the dominant benthic fish species (dab, plaice, whiting and grey gurnard) at the North Frisian sublitoral in the German Bight. The study area comprises various habitats with their typical benthic associations. Sediments from fine to coarse sands, gravel and even rocky habitats are present. The diet of fish from two different habitats (fine and coarse sands) was compared by two methods: (a) stomach content analyses to identify distinct prey items as a kind of snapshot and (b) stable isotopes (δ15N) to investigate long-term differences of habitat-dependent diet, i.e. differences in trophic positions. Both methods enable us to estimate inter-specific differences in feeding, i.e. to determine trophic niches of species and to compare intra-specific differences of habitat-dependent diet. Knowledge on trophic interactions of fish based on habitat dependency might therefore provide a key to determine habitats essential for fish feeding, useful for the development of ecological management and strategies for conservation.


Layered cathode materials (LCMs), because of their high energy density and relatively stable performance, represent an important class of cathode materials for alkali metal ion (e.g., Li+ and Na+) batteries. Chemomechanical behaviors of LCMs, which affect battery performance dramatically, have drawn extensive attention in recent years. Most chemomechanical processes have some common chemical and structural origins that are at the center of materials chemistry, for example, defects and local bonding environments in the solid state. In this review, we first discuss the chemomechanical breakdown of LCMs by introducing their categories and negative effects on the battery performance. We then systematically analyze factors that govern the initiation and propagation of chemomechanical breakdown and summarize their formation mechanisms. Strategies that can enhance the chemomechanical properties of LCMs or reduce the destructive effects of chemomechanical breakdown are then discussed. Finally, light is shed on the new state-of-the-art techniques that have been applied to study chemomechanical breakdown. This review virtually includes most aspects of the chemomechanical behaviors of LCMs and provides some insights into the important chemical motifs that determine the chemomechanical properties. Therefore, we believe that advanced design protocols of LCMs can be developed to effectively address the chemomechanical breakdown issue of LCMs.


Worms are becoming more virulent at the same time as operating system improvements try to contain them.Recent research demonstrates several effective methods to detect and prevent randomly scanning worms from spreading [2, 13]. As a result, worm authors are looking for new ways to acquire vulnerable targets without relying on randomly scanning for them. It is often possible to find vulnerable web servers by sending carefully crafted queries to search engines. Search worms1 automate this approach and spread by using popular search engines to find new attack vectors. These worms not only put significant load on search engines, they also evade detection mechanisms that assume random scanning. From the point of view of a search engine, signatures against search queries are only a temporary measure as many different search queries lead to the same results. In this paper, we present our experience with search worms and a framework that allows search engines to quickly detect new worms and take automatic countermeasures. We argue that signature-based filtering of search queries is ill-suited for protecting against search worms and show how we prevent worm propagation without relying on query signatures. We illustrate our approach with measurements and numeric simulations.


Climate change induced permafrost thaw in the Arctic is mobilizing ancient dissolved organic carbon (DOC) into headwater streams; however, DOC exported from the mouth of major arctic rivers appears predominantly modern. Here we highlight that ancient (>20,000 years B.P.) permafrost DOC is rapidly utilized by microbes (~50% DOC loss in <7 days) and that permafrost DOC decay rates (0.12 to 0.19 day−1) exceed those for DOC in a major arctic river (Kolyma: 0.09 day−1). Permafrost DOC exhibited unique molecular signatures, including high levels of aliphatics that were rapidly utilized by microbes. As microbes processed permafrost DOC, its distinctive chemical signatures were degraded and converged toward those of DOC in the Kolyma River. The extreme biolability of permafrost DOC and the rapid loss of its distinct molecular signature may explain the apparent contradiction between observed permafrost DOC release to headwaters and the lack of a permafrost signal in DOC exported via major arctic rivers to the ocean.


There is widespread recognition that firms need continuous upgrading of their operations and capabilities to be able to retain a competitive edge in a highly uncertain market environment. This raises questions about the mechanisms available for them to learn and develop capability. One area of topical enquiry is that of inter-firm learning. For individual firms, the advantages of learning in a network context include access to the experiences of others and peer-group support, reduction of risks in R&D experimentation, and the potential for creativity and innovation arising as a response to competitive challenges. Examples of such network configurations can be found in regional clusters, sector groupings, heterogeneous groups sharing a common topic of interest, user groups concerned with learning around a particular technology or its application and in supply-chain learning. Learning in such configurations does not, however, take place automatically. This paper addresses some of the management challenges involved in setting up and nurturing learning networks. It draws particularly on a case of a learning network in the timber products industry in South Africa.


Background Avian bornaviruses are a genetically diverse group of viruses initially discovered in 2008. They are known to infect several avian orders. Bornaviruses of parrots and related species (Psittaciformes) are causative agents of proventricular dilatation disease, a chronic and often fatal neurologic disease widely distributed in captive psittacine populations. Although knowledge has considerably increased in the past years, many aspects of the biology of avian bornaviruses are still undiscovered. In particular, the precise way of transmission remains unknown. Aims and Methods In order to collect further information on the epidemiology of bornavirus infections in birds we collected samples from captive and free-ranging aquatic birds (n = 738) and Passeriformes (n = 145) in Germany and tested them for the presence of bornaviruses by PCR assays covering a broad range of known bornaviruses. We detected aquatic bird bornavirus 1 (ABBV-1) in three out of 73 sampled free-ranging mute swans (Cygnus olor) and one out of 282 free-ranging Eurasian oystercatchers (Haematopus ostralegus). Canary bornavirus 1 (CnBV-1), CnBV-2 and CnBV-3 were detected in four, six and one out of 48 captive common canaries (Serinus canaria forma domestica), respectively. In addition, samples originating from 49 bornavirus-positive captive Psittaciformes were used for determination of parrot bornavirus 2 (PaBV-2) and PaBV-4 sequences. Bornavirus sequences compiled during this study were used for phylogenetic analysis together with all related sequences available in GenBank. Results of the Study Within ABBV-1, PaBV-2 and PaBV-4, identical or genetically closely related bornavirus sequences were found in parallel in various different avian species, suggesting that inter-species transmission is frequent relative to the overall transmission of these viruses. Our results argue for an important role of horizontal transmission, but do not exclude the additional possibility of vertical transmission. Furthermore we defined clearly separated sequence clusters within several avian bornaviruses, providing a basis for an improved interpretation of transmission events within and between wild bird populations and captive bird collections.


Reverberation and noise cause significant deterioration of audio quality and intelligibility to signals recorded in acoustic environments. Bayesian dereverberation infers knowledge about the system by exploiting the statistical properties of speech and the acoustic channel. In Bayesian frameworks, the signal can be processed either sequentially using online methods or in a batch using offline methods. This paper compares the two approaches for blind speech dereverberation by means of a previously proposed batch approach and a novel sequential approach. Results show that while both methods have different advantages, online processing leads to a more flexible solution.


Precise dynamic models of processes are required for many applications, ranging from control engineering to the natural sciences and economics. Frequently, such precise models cannot be derived using theoretical considerations alone. Therefore, they must be determined experimentally. This book treats the determination of dynamic models based on measurements taken at the process, which is known as system identification or process identification. Both offline and online methods are presented, i.e. methods that post-process the measured data as well as methods that provide models during the measurement. The book is theory-oriented and application-oriented and most methods covered have been used successfully in practical applications for many different processes. Illustrative examples in this book with real measured data range from hydraulic and electric actuators up to combustion engines. Real experimental data is also provided on the Springer webpage, allowing readers to gather their first experience with the methods presented in this book. Among others, the book covers the following subjects: determination of the non-parametric frequency response, (fast) Fourier transform, correlation analysis, parameter estimation with a focus on the method of Least Squares and modifications, identification of time-variant processes, identification in closed-loop, identification of continuous time processes, and subspace methods. Some methods for nonlinear system identification are also considered, such as the Extended Kalman filter and neural networks. The different methods are compared by using a real three-mass oscillator process, a model of a drive train. For many identification methods, hints for the practical implementation and application are provided. The book is intended to meet the needs of students and practicing engineers working in research and development, design and manufacturing.


Hyperspectral systems integrated on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) provide unique opportunities to conduct high-resolution multitemporal spectral analysis for diverse applications. However, additional time-consuming rectification efforts in postprocessing are routinely required, since geometric distortions can be introduced due to UAV movements during flight, even if navigation/motion sensors are used to track the position of each scan. Part of the challenge in obtaining high-quality imagery relates to the lack of a fast processing workflow that can retrieve geometrically accurate mosaics while optimizing the ground data collection efforts. To address this problem, we explored a computationally robust automated georectification and mosaicking methodology. It operates effectively in a parallel computing environment and evaluates results against a number of high-spatial-resolution datasets (mm to cm resolution) collected using a push-broom sensor and an associated RGB frame-based camera. The methodology estimates the luminance of the hyperspectral swaths and coregisters these against a luminance RGB-based orthophoto. The procedure includes an improved coregistration strategy by integrating the Speeded-Up Robust Features (SURF) algorithm, with the Maximum Likelihood Estimator Sample Consensus (MLESAC) approach. SURF identifies common features between each swath and the RGB-orthomosaic, while MLESAC fits the best geometric transformation model to the retrieved matches. Individual scanlines are then geometrically transformed and merged into a single spatially continuous mosaic reaching high positional accuracies only with a few number of ground control points (GCPs). The capacity of the workflow to achieve high spatial accuracy was demonstrated by examining statistical metrics such as RMSE, MAE, and the relative positional accuracy at 95% confidence level. Comparison against a user-generated georectification demonstrates that the automated approach speeds up the coregistration process by 85%.


Greece is a low-productivity economy with an ineffective welfare state, relying almost exclusively on low wages and social transfers. Failure to come to terms with this reality hampers both the appropriateness of EU recommendations and the Greek government's capacity to deal with unemployment. Rather than finding a job in a family business or through relationship contacts, young people stay unemployed. Nor can people move back to their village of origin so easily. The underground economy, and the mass of small companies which characterize the Greek economy are booming, on paper. One in three members of the workforce are "self-employed", compared to one in seven in the EU as a whole. (International Viewpoint) An unemployed person in Greece is 2,15 times more likely to suffer poverty than a person in employment. Yet in Greece there are perhaps even more influential factors in determining increased risk of poverty. Thus while unemployment is a crucial factor in the risk of poverty, it is neither the only nor the most significant factor. The paper presents a new technique in the field of unemployment modeling in order to forecast unemployment index. Techniques from the Artificial Neural Networks and from fuzzy logic have been combined to generate a neuro-fuzzy model. The input is a time series. Classical statistics measures are calculated in order to asses the model performance. Further the results are compared with an ARMA and an AR model.


Gangliosides, complex sialic acid-containing glycolipids, and other glycosphingolipids are active physiological membrane components with an array of functions in development and disease. Altered profiles are found in many disorders including those of neurological and cancerous aetiologies. Glycosphingolipids are also important for lateral membrane organization, cell communication and as binding sites for extra-cellular components. These lipids have long been implicated as targets in autoimmune diseases such as Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) and Multifocal Motor Neuropathy. In GBS, auto-antibodies bind native membrane gangliosides signalling immune-mediated breakdown of nerves causing acute flaccid paralysis. While the fundamental pathology is understood, differences in clinical presentation, and preference for motor over sensory nerves, have yet to be explained. Understanding the precise nature of native gangliosides, including low abundance species and modifications, is an important first step. Meanwhile genetically engineered mouse models are under development that should increase our understanding of disease pathogenesis. To be truly functional it is essential these models contain a full range of complex and simple glycosphingolipids in the neurological tissue.

Mass spectrometry has recently been applied with great effect to lipidomics; the comprehensive profiling of all lipids involved in a system. However, heavily glycosylated, low abundance and chemically unusual lipids such as the gangliosides tend to be neglected in otherwise thorough lipidomic studies. It was the aim here to optimise separation and mass spectrometry methodologies for ganglioside analysis. Workflows were developed for high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) combined with direct imaging mass spectrometry (IMS) detection and identification, and for high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with online high resolution mass spectrometry detection and identification with dissociation to confirm structures (MSMS). A range of lipid standards were analysed using this second method to build a database of characteristic ionization behaviour, retention times, and product ion spectra to aid the analysis of unknowns in complex mixtures. Methods were then applied to molecular phenotyping in novel mouse models of GBS, and to glycosphingolipidomics in peripheral sensory and motor nerves. Finally the recently developed technique of imaging mass spectrometry, using matrix assisted laser desorption ionisation (MALDI) and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) ion sources, was investigated for its capability for direct ganglioside analysis in brain and spinal cord tissue sections.

Results are presented below demonstrating the significant benefits of the mass spectrometry-based workflows over more conventional profiling methods as well as comparing and contrasting the two techniques developed here. Limitations and potential areas for future development are debated. Findings from profiling knockout and rescue mouse models and from single nerve glycosphingolipidomics are discussed along with further experiments and directions for these studies. The discovery of a full range of complex gangliosides in neurological tissue from rescue mice, albeit at low levels compared to the wild type, confirmed their molecular usefulness for modelling neurological autoimmune diseases. The sensitivity and reproducibility of the mass spectrometry technique enabled relative quantitation, revealing details into the abundance of different ganglioside species and inclusion of ceramide structures in each mouse type. The ability to detect very low abundance lipids with an additional dimension of structural description also suggested that O-acetylation of the second sialic acid on native disialylated lipids is more prevalent than previously thought. Finally imaging mass spectrometry results are presented. Although sensitivity was limited, both simple and complex gangliosides were detected in spinal cord sections; the first known IMS detection of these lipids outside of the brain. Results also demonstrate the abundance of parallel lipidomic information that can be obtained using these methods. Possible solutions to increasing the sensitivity limit are discussed that may increase IMS usefulness to glycosphingolipid studies in future.


The objective of this research was to isolate and characterize soybean genes involved in phytic acid metabolism for use in genetic engineering strategies to improve phosphorus utilization. A soybean phytase from germinated cotyledons was purified 28,000-fold to apparent homogeneity and was determined to be a glycosylated homodimer with 70 kD subunits. Soybean phytase preferred phytate as substrate (Km = 60 μM) and was capable of removing of all six phosphate groups from phytate. The pH and temperature optima for soybean phytase activity were 4.5 and 58°C, respectively. The N-terminus and four internal peptides from the purified soybean phytase were sequenced by Edman degradation. The amino acid sequence data were used to design degenerate oligonucleotide primers for PCR amplification of the soybean phytase coding sequence. A protein 547 amino acids in length was predicted from the 1641 bp coding sequence. The phytase protein showed significant similarity to plant purple acid phosphatases (PAPs) and contained the conserved metallo-phosphomonoesterase active site motif. The soybean phytase coding sequence was placed under the control of a constitutive 35S CaMV promoter in a soybean biolistic transformation vector and was introduced into Williams 82 suspension culture cells by particle bombardment. Stably transformed cell suspension lines were recovered. DNA blot analysis demonstrated that the recombinant soybean phytase coding sequence had integrated into the genomes of two cell lines. Expression of the transgene was confirmed by RNA blot analysis. Phytase activity was three to four fold higher in these two lines compared to control non-transformed cultures. A soybean L-myo-insoitol-1-phosphate synthase (MIPS) cDNA was isolated from total RNA from developing seeds. The protein encoded by the soybean MIPS cDNA showed 87-91% homology to MIPS protein sequences from other plant species. RNA blot analysis of staged developing soybean seeds revealed that MIPS is transcribed early in the cotyledonary stage of development. Compared to other soybean tissues, MIPS expression levels were highest in developing seeds. DNA blot analysis demonstrated that multiple copies of the MIPS gene are present within the soybean genome.


Wearable ECG monitoring is regarded as one of the most essential part in the ubiquitous healthcare environment and subsequently day-life monitoring of a heart condition has been pursued especially for the elder people. However, there are many problems to accomplish this task such as; i) implementation of long-term monitoring device, ii) development of non-irritating electrode on skin and iii) stable signal acquisition. With these aims, we have focused on implementing a non-irritating electrode with an endurable monitoring device for day-life. To accomplish our tasks, we basically developed four different types of textile electrodes that are adapted by both shape and the composed material; flat or convex shape and Ag-conductive paste material or not. It turns out to be that a convex shape and Ag-paste textile electrode has the best performance in terms of both signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and Impedance/Phase characteristics. Furthermore, ECG amplifier (35 35 mm) has developed to resolve the ECG signal and transfer the signal to desktop computing device or portable one by RF serial communication.


Dietary supplements remain a relatively underexplored source for drug repurposing. A systematic approach to soliciting responses from a large consumer population is desirable to speed up innovation. We tested a workflow that mines unexpected benefits of dietary supplements from massive consumer reviews. A (non-exhaustive) list of regular expressions was used to screen over 2 million reviews on health and personal care products. The matched reviews were manually analyzed, and one supplement-disease pair was linked to biological databases for enriching the hypothesized association. The regular expressions found 169 candidate reviews, of which 45.6% described unexpected benefits of certain dietary supplements. The manual analysis showed some of the supplement-disease associations to be novel or in agreement with evidence published later in the literature. The hypothesis enrichment was able to identify meaningful function similarity between the supplement and the disease. The results demonstrated value of the workflow in identifying candidates for supplement repurposing.


Aortic stenosis is one of the three most common congenital heart defects in dogs and less frequent in cats. Most dogs or cats have subvalvular type of stenosis; valvular or supravalvular types are less frequent. Heart failure is seldom a consequence of aortic stenosis; most dogs with heart failure have a concurrent disease. The most common accompanying diagnosis is pulmonic stenosis, especially in the Boxer breed. Screening programs seem to have efficiently lowered the incidence of aortic stenosis in dogs. Genetic evidence for aortic stenosis has been shown in Golden Retriever, Newfoundland and Dogue de Bordeaux; however, the genetic background of aortic stenosis at molecular level remains unclear.


Based on the status quo of scientific findings host-guest-complexes with cyclodextrins were investigated in order to demonstrate the essential structural characteristics of cyclodextrins and their supramolecular compounds.

 The results of the scientific research are as follows:
 1. The iodine-β-cyclodextrin-complex demonstrates exemplarily that the formation of the complex is attended by modification and masking of some typical material properties of the guest. The newly developed experiment with the iodine-β-cyclodextrin-complex provides the opportunity to prove the major role of water for the formation and dissociation of cyclodextrin-complexes.
 2. The phenomenologically and didactically fruitful experiment with the phenolphthalein-β-cyclodextrin-complex plays a decisive role for the comprehension of the bonding relationship between host- and guest-molecules.
 1 H-NMR studies were carried out to understand the unambiguous observation of the decolouration of an alkaline phenolphthalein solution on the molecular level. The 1 H-NMR measurements with phenolphthalein-solutions at different pH values in combination with the detection of Nuclear-Overhauser-Effects lead to the conclusion that phenolphthalein-dianions are existent as lactonic dianions and penetrate the cavity of β-cyclodextrin-molecules with the aromatic ring bearing the lacton group.
 The results of the investigation of the phenolphthalein-β-cyclodextrin-complex underline the hypothesis that complex formation can cause conformational modification and even valence isomerisation from the guest-molecule.
 3. The phenomenon of the fluorescence enhancement of 8 anilino-1 naphthalinsulfonic acid-ammonium salt and fluorescein disodium salt in solutions is shown and quantified in an experimental setup.
 4. For the complexation of spiropyran in γ-cyclodextrin the following reaction conditions turn out to be best: use of a solvent-mixture of ethanol with 5% water, ratio of the amount of substances of 1 : 1.
 The spiropyran-γ-cyclodextrin-complex accumulates in powder form which is a smart material with the function of a molecular switch. The findings about the photochromic and thermochromic behaviour of this material are summarised in an energy diagram with energy profile curves of the ground state and the excited state of the host-guest-complex.
 5. A convincing pearlescent is created in a shampoo formulation by addition of β-cyclodextrin. The pearlescent is attributed to the formation of crystalline domains of surfactant-β-cyclodextrin-complexes distributed in the solution which causes a selective reflexion and refraction of light.

 The scientific investigations about the host-guest-complexes provide the basis for research in chemical education and the following aspects clarify the didactical capability of this topic:
 1. The developed experiments are predicated on current scientific findings and perform the postulation of scientific consistency. With the selection and the didactical rework of the experiments great importance to distinctive observations and didactical conciseness is attached.
 2. A further important criterion for the choice of experiments is the possibility for anchoring to topics from the curriculum. For the experiments there are multiple possibilities from the scientific point of view and also from the point of view of motivating contexts in different educational stages.
 3. Due to the versatile applications of cyclodextrins and their host-guest-complexes the topic can be integrated in a meaningful context from the pupils' everyday life, which meets with the curricular requirements of context orientation. The realised Flash-animation on the host-guest-complex of phenolphthalein with β-cyclodextrin enables the dynamic representation of the complex formation on the molecular level. This electronic medium is an important support for teaching.


Geographic communities are often thought to support new ventures, particularly when newcomers are able to replicate incumbents' characteristics. This paper elaborates on the conditions under which geographic communities may hinder the action of newcomers. Particular attention is dedicated to the case in which incumbents' identities build on community traditions and rely on strong connectedness with community inhabitants, as these factors are difficult for newcomers to replicate. We explore this question within the context of market entries in the Franconian microbrewery industry. The results of our empirical analysis confirm that geographic communities exert an unfavorable effect on the entry of new organizations when incumbents are deeply attached to the community. Conversely, when incumbents relate poorly to the community, residential stability within the community displays a positive effect on founding.


Treatment of the tricationic gold(iii) [Au(MeImCH2ImMe)2](PF6)3 complex 1-3PF6 (Im = imidazol-2-ylidene) with excess halides affords complexes 1-3X (X = Cl, Br, and I), resulting from counter anion PF6-/X- exchange. The 1H chemical shift of the CH3 groups and particularly that of the CH2 linker in DMSO-d6 are different in the three complexes, thus suggesting selective XHC interactions. Complex 13+ can therefore be used as a halide sensor in DMSO and water. The host-guest interaction between the tricationic gold(iii) complex and the halides Cl-, Br- and I- in solution and in the solid state has been investigated by means of NMR titration experiments, DFT calculations and X-ray structure analysis. The electrostatic interaction between the halides and the triple formal positive charge on the metal centre, together with the CHX hydrogen bonding between the NHC ligand and halides, contributes to the formation of stable supramolecular aggregates in solution and in the solid state. The complexing properties of 13+ are strongly influenced by the nature of the solvent. Formation of the 1 : 1 and 1 : 2 species (1X2+ and 1X2+) is observed in DMSO-d6, while that of only the 1 : 1 aggregates (1X2+) is observed in D2O (X = Cl, Br, and I). Moreover, the selectivity towards the various halides is reversed in the two solvents, being in the order Cl- > Br- > I- in DMSO-d6 and I- > Br- > Cl- in D2O. The formation constants of the species 1X2+ and 1X2+ in DMSO and 1X2+ in water have been determined by fitting the NMR titration curves.

publisher-specific, author manuscript: http://rsc.li/journals-terms-of-use


Apart from the exchanging of information, an important role of conversation and communication is to promote social harmony through the maintenance of relationships. This is referred to as the 'phatic' function of communication. Indeed, digital communications technologies, and social media in particular, have been lauded for their potential to promote activism and social change through 'raising awareness' of injustices, their ability to motivate people into political action and the facility to organize and coordinate that action for maximum effect. In this article, I build upon previous arguments, which suggested that the rise of social networking demonstrated that online culture and communication had become increasingly phatic and less dialogic. Here I use previous empirical work to challenge the above claims of digital politics enthusiasts. I then suggest an alternative theoretical account of the function of digital media activism which better suits these empirical findings. I suggest that digital politics demonstrates a rise of 'phatic communion' in social media. Incorporating Heidegger's notion of 'idle talk', I further suggest that the rise of a phatic online culture in social media activism has atrophied the potential for digital communications technologies to help foster social change by creating a conversational environment based on limited forms of expressive solidarity as opposed to an engaged, content-driven, dialogic public sphere.


Microarray-based comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) has made a significant impact on the ability to diagnose human constitutional disease by detecting genomic copy number changes that were previously undetectable by other types of cytogenetic and molecular technologies. Not only can hundreds of well-characterized genetic syndromes be detected in a single assay, but new genomic disorders and disease-causing genes are also being discovered through the utilization of this technology. Clinical implementation of array CGH Hybridization has been extended to the prenatal setting, where it is also proving to enhance the diagnostic capabilities in the perinatal period. However, the clinical interpretation of the increasing number of copy number variations detected as the resolution of the microarrays is improved still poses a formidable challenge to laboratorians, health care providers and families.

Key Concepts:

Array comparative genomic Hybridization (aCGH) has several advantages over traditional cytogenetic methods for diagnosing human diseases: higher resolution, more robust and automated, and shorter turn around time since no cell culture is required.

Copy number variation (CNV) is common in the genome making it challenging for the clinical significance to be determined. Parental testing and utilisation of several internet-based databases assist with the interpretation of CNVs.

The detection rate for clinically relevant CNVs by aCGH (10–20%) is significantly higher than traditional chromosome analysis (3%) making it the recommended first-tier cytogenetic diagnostic test for patients with unexplained developmental delay/intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorders and multiple congenital anomalies by the International Standard Cytogenomic Array Consortium.

The resolution of aCGH has evolved to be sensitive enough to aid in the diagnosis of single gene disorders.

Array CGH is a useful tool for discovering new disease-causing genes.

Array CGH has led to the recognition of many new genomic disorders, many of which cannot be diagnosed clinically due to lack cardinal features, variable expressivity and reduced penetrance.

CNVs, particularly those that occur de novo, are increasingly being recognised as important in the etiology of both syndromic and nonsyndromic autism as well as other neuropsychiatric disorders.

SNP-based microarrays can be used to diagnosis uniparental disomy.

Array CGH is increasingly being used in prenatal diagnosis and has demonstrated its usefulness in clarifying the significance of karyotype findings and providing diagnoses not identifiable by chromosome analysis alone.

It is the opinion of The American College of Obstetrician and Gynecologists (2009) that aCGH not currently replace classic cytogenetics for prenatal diagnosis, but that targeted aCGH can be offered as an adjunct tool in prenatal cases with abnormal anatomical findings and normal karyotype, as well as in cases of fetal demise with congenital anomalies and the inability to obtain a conventional karyotype.

Keywords:

array comparative genomic Hybridization;
copy number variation;
genomic disorders;
autism;
uniparental disomy;
prenatal diagnosis;
microarray;
microdeletion;
microduplication


Documents and art works on paper can be maintained for years of use and enjoyment provided that some basic care and attention is given to their preservation. The conservation staff at The Henry Ford has compiled the information in this fact sheet to help individuals care for their objects and collections. The first step in the care of collections is to understand and minimize or eliminate conditions that can cause damage. The second step is to follow basic guidelines for care, handling, and cleaning.


Axo-axonal interactions of neuronal cells play an important role in functional development during embryogenesis. Axons of the cells formed on early stages of the brain development provide a template for the growing axons of later axons. However, the mechanisms of the guiding of younger axons by already formed axons are not well understood. In this study, we present a method to study such axo-axonal interactions in vitro using microfluidics methods and culturing neocortical cells. We studied the dynamics of axon growth in microchannels perpendicularly intersecting with other microchannels. This study provides fundamental understanding of the axonal navigation in microfluidic structures, which further facilitate the design of experimental in vitro model for studying the role of already formed axons in the development of neuronal system.


Sorghum midge, Contarinia sorghicola (Coquillett) diapause was terminated in the laboratory, and factors affecting adult emergence from diapausing larvae were investigated. Temperatures in the range from 20 to 30°C were optimum for diapause termination and adult emergence. Diapausing larvae exposed to moist conditions at 30°C began to emerge as adults after 12 days of incubation. Based on adult emergence rates per day, an emergence threshold temperature was estimated to be 14.8°C. Exposure to 12 to 13 days of continuous moisture at 30°C was essential for diapause termination and adult emergence. Moisture acted to initiate diapause termination, but diapausing larvae were unable to accumulate shorter periods of moisture toward the 12- to 13-day requirement. Photoperiod had no significant effect on the termination of larval diapause.


In this paper we focus on the issue of normalization of the affinity matrix in spectral clustering. We show that the difference between N-cuts and Ratio-cuts is in the error measure being used (relative-entropy versus L1 norm) in finding the closest doubly-stochastic matrix to the input affinity matrix. We then develop a scheme for finding the optimal, under Frobenius norm, doubly-stochastic approximation using Von-Neumann's successive projections lemma. The new normalization scheme is simple and efficient and provides superior clustering performance over many of the standardized tests.


Purpose To determine the profile of neurodegeneration in Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON). Methods We quantitated serum levels of phosphorylated neurofilament heavy chain (pNF-H) in a Brazilian pedigree of 16 affected patients and 59 carriers with LHON, both molecularly characterized as harboring the G to A mutation at nucleotide 11,778 of the mitochondrial genome. The association of subject characteristics to pNF-H levels was studied with multiple regression; pNF-H data were square-root transformed to effect normality of distribution of residuals. Relationships between the square-root of pNF-H and age and sex were investigated within groups with Pearson correlation and the two-sample t-test. Linear regression was used to assess the difference between groups and to determine if the relationship of age was different between affected individuals and carriers. Results of plotting pNF-H levels by age suggested a nonlinear, quadratic association so age squared was used in the statistical analysis. ANCOVA was used to assess the influence of age and group on pNF-H levels. Results In the carrier group, there was a significant correlation of square-root pNF-H (mean=0.24 ng/ml2) with age (r=0.30, p=0.022) and a stronger correlation with quadratic age (r=0.37, p=0.003). With a higher mean pNF-H (0.33 ng/ml2) for the affected group, correlations were of similar magnitude, although they were not statistically significant: age (r=0.22, p=0.42), quadratic age (r=0.22, p=0.45). There was no correlation between age and pNF-H levels (mean=0.34 ng/ml2) in the off-pedigree group: age (r=0.03, p=0.87), quadratic age (r=0.04, p=0.84). There was no difference between sexes and pNF-H levels in any of the groups (affected, p=0.65; carriers, p=0.19; off-pedigree, p=0.93). Conclusions Elevated pNF-H released into the serum of some affected LHON patients may suggest that axonal degeneration occurs at some point after loss of visual function. Increases in pNF-H levels of carriers with increasing age, not seen in off-pedigree controls, may suggest subtle subclinical optic nerve degeneration.


Zhao Xu DITAG, Dept. of Land, Environment and Geoengineering, Politecnico di Torino, Italy Via Pier Carlo Boggio 61, 10138 Torino, Italy +39 3208339655 firstname.lastname@example.com Abstract: :Considering rapid population growth and urbanization, sustainability assessment of residential development has become increasingly necessary for understanding environmental impacts and supporting urban planning. In this paper, due to the urban activities cause impacts not only on local level but also a broader scale, a simulation model, using System Dynamics (SD) methodology, was structured to quantitatively investigate the developmental tendency of housing demand and supply. And then the estimated results were displayed in ArcGIS and CityEngine. The integration of GIS and SD model can better explain the interaction and the variation with time of the sustainable indicators for residential development. Hence it's able to support the Decision Maker to view the sustainable level of urban residential areas more comprehensively.


The spectrum of filtration separations runs from the millimeter scale (beach sand and activated carbon particles) using coarse filters, to the angstrom scale (metal ions and gas molecules) using reverse osmosis or gas separation membranes. Between there are microfiltration (bacteria and emulsions), ultrafiltration (proteins, viruses, and colloids), and nanofiltration (sugars, herbicides, small organic molecules). In the analytical environment it is likely that membrane and filtration systems involving this entire spectrum will be used to provide high purity water, gases, reagents, and even special functions within instruments. In addition to these applications, membranes and filters will often also be used in sample preparation and perhaps initial characterization. In this entry, we will discuss the principles, materials, and devices used to accomplish coarse, micro- and ultrafiltration on the laboratory scale.


Part-time employment has become an extremely popular work arrangement in the Netherlands because it renders employment compatible with non-work activities. We posit that there may be a downside to part-time employment, which is related to its negative effects on workers' career. This may be the case when firms use promotions to stimulate skill acquisition and human capital accumulation or when they base their work incentive schemes on performance measures that are affected by the number of hours worked or when they screen workers on the basis of the number of hours worked. Because promotions are an important source of wage growth, the low incidence of promotion among part-time workers may contribute to the emergence of the part-time wage penalty (i.e., the wage difference between a part-time worker and an otherwise equal full-time worker) in due time. Consistent with this view, we find that (male and female) workers in part-time jobs are characterized by a lower incidence of promotion relative to workers in full-time jobs and that promotions account for a wage growth of eight log points. Moreover, we find that the part-time wage penalty does not arise at the onset of a career as young workers join the labor market but that it tends to develop over time as labor market experience and the effect of missed promotions cumulate.


OBJECTIVES
We investigated preventive health behaviors (bicycle helmet, seat belt, and sunscreen use), physical activity, television viewing or video game playing, and nutrition (fruit, vegetable, milk, and soda consumption) among Asian and Latino adolescents living in the United States; assessed trends across generations (first-, second-, and third-generation immigrants or later); and compared each generation with White adolescents.

METHODS
We used data from 5801 adolescents aged 12 to 17 years in the representative 2001 California Health Interview Survey.

RESULTS
In multivariate analysis, first-generation Asians measured worse than Whites for preventive health behaviors (lower participation), physical activity (less activity), and television viewing or video game playing (more hours), but improved across generations. For these same behaviors, Latinos were similar to or worse than Whites, and generally showed no improvement across generations. First-generation Asians and Latinos had healthier diets than Whites (higher fruit and vegetable consumption, lower soda consumption). With succeeding generations, Asians' fruit, vegetable, and soda consumption remained stable, but Latinos' fruit and vegetable consumption decreased and their soda consumption increased, so that by the third generation Latinos' nutrition was poorer than Whites'.

CONCLUSIONS
For the health behaviors we examined, Asian adolescents' health behaviors either improved with each generation or remained better than that of Whites. Latino adolescents demonstrated generally worse preventive health behaviors than did Whites and, in the case of nutrition, a worsening across generations. Targeted interventions may be needed to address behavioral disparities.


Checking the satisfiability of quantifier-free real-arithmetic formulas is a practically highly relevant but computationally hard problem. Some beautiful mathematical decision procedures implemented in computer algebra systems are capable of solving such problems, however, they were developed for more general tasks like quantifier elimination, therefore their applicability to satisfiability checking is often restricted. In computer science, recent advances in satisfiability-modulo-theories (SMT) solving led to elegant embeddings of such decision procedures in SMT solvers in a way that combines the strengths of symbolic computation methods and heuristic-driven search techniques. In this talk we discuss such embeddings and show that they might be quite challenging but can lead to powerful synergies and open new lines of research.


Laccase-catalysed depolymerisation of lignin offers substantial opportunities to form bio-derived aromatic chemicals. Laccase works with exquisite selectivity to oxidise the 5-5' and β-5' linkages in lignin and to cleave the β-O-4' linkages in the presence of 1-hydroxybenzotriazole (1-HBT). However, the laccase/1-HBT system is inefficient when applied to industrial lignin, and the complexity of the product mixtures hinders rapid optimisation. Therefore, I studied laccase-catalysed oxidation of three synthetic lignin model oligomers, which had well-defined structures, yielded analytically tractable product mixtures, and, thus, permitted faster optimisation. Solvent systems were developed to dissolve the lignin model oligomers and retain laccase activity, which aided mass transfer. Models of "hardwood" (S:G 1:1) and "softwood" (G only) lignin containing nonphenolic β-O-4' linkages (Angewandte Chemie-International Edition, 54, 258) were oxidised quickly by benzylic carbonyl formation (>60% in 24 h), or β-O-4' bond cleavage. Approximately 25% of the linkages in the "hardwood" (S:G 1:1) oligomer were cleaved in 24 h. A more complex model of "softwood" lignin, containing β-5', β-O-4' and 5-5' phenolic linkages (Green Chemistry, 15, 3031), was oxidised just as rapidly, but reaction products in this case were phenolic dimers that repolymerised. Therefore, I conclude that future bio-production of aromatic chemicals from lignin will depend on the development of improved lignin extraction procedures to allow retention of the β-O-4' linkages, which will produce more efficient enzymatic depolymerisation.


1. Brattleboro rats with hereditary diabetes insipidus were maintained in metabolism cages for 12–14 days. During the final 5–7 days hydrochlorothiazide was added to the food of half the animals, resulting in a sustained antidiuresis. At the end of this time all rats were anaesthetized and their renal function was investigated. 2. Water, sodium and potassium excretion rates during anaesthesia were similar to their respective values during the final period in metabolism cages. 3. Total glomerular filtration rate and superficial nephron filtration rate were similar in untreated and thiazide-treated animals. Fractional fluid reabsorption in proximal convoluted tubules, as measured by tubular fluid/plasma inulin concentration ratios in late surface convolutions, was moderately increased in the thiazide-treated rats, and was associated with a small reduction in the volume of fluid delivered to more distal nephron segments. 4. The osmolality of renal papillary interstitial fluid from thiazide-treated rats was considerably greater than that from untreated animals. There was also a small increase in papillary fluid sodium concentration. 5. It is concluded that the mechanism of the sustained antidiuresis during chronic hydrochlorothiazide administration in diabetes insipidus differs from that of the acute response. The changes in proximal tubular function during chronic thiazide treatment only partially account for the reduction in urine volume; it seems probable that the raised papillary osmolality, by enhancing water reabsorption at sites beyond the proximal tubule, makes a greater contribution to the antidiuresis.


: Big data applications are among the most suitable applications to be executed on cluster resources because of their high requirements of computational power and data storage. Correctly sizing the resources devoted to their execution does not guarantee they will be executed as expected. Nevertheless, their execution can be affected by perturbations which can change the expected execution time. Identifying when these types of issue occurred by comparing their actual execution time with the expected one is mandatory to identify potentially critical situations and to take the appropriate steps to prevent them. To fulfill this objective, accurate estimates are necessary. In this paper, machine learning techniques coupled with a posteriori knowledge are exploited to build performance estimation models. Experimental results show how the models built with the proposed approach are able to outperform a reference state-of-the-art method (i.e., Ernest method), reducing in some scenarios the error from the 221.09-167.07% to 13.15-30.58%.


Objectives: The chordae tendinae (CT) are strong, fibrous connections between the valve leaflets and the papillary muscles. Dysfunction of the papillary muscles and chordae is frequent. Mitral valve replacement with preservation of CT and papillary muscles may preserve postoperative left ventricular function better than conventional mitral valve replacement in patients with chronic mitral regurgitation. Methods: The study was carried out on 116 human cadaveric hearts. The heart was opened through the atrioventricular valve to view the constituents of the complex. Origin, attachments, insertions, distribution, branching pattern and gross structure of CT were observed and studied in detail. Results: In the present study more than 21 terminologies of CT were defined by classifying it into six different types. Classification is done according to the origin, attachments, insertion, distribution, branching pattern and gross structure. Terminologies defined are as follows. Apical pillar chordae, Basal pillar chordae, True chordae, False chordae, Interpillar chordae, Pillar wall chordae, Cusp chordae, Cleft chordae, Commissural chordae, First order chordae, Second order chordae, Free zone chordae, Marginal chordae, Rough zone chordae, Straight chordae, Branched-fan shaped chordae, Spiral chordae, Irregular-web chordae, Tendinous chordae, Muscular chordae, Membranous chordae. Basal pillar chordae are found in 9.48%. Mean number of chordae taking origin from apical half of a single papillary muscle or single head of papillary muscle was 9.09 with the range of 3-18. Mean number of the marginal chordae attached to a single cusp was 22.63 ranging from 11 to 35. Strut chordae showed interesting insertion with broad aponeurosis in 38.79% and large muscular flaps in 13.79%. Chordae muscularis were found in 14% and membranous chordae were found in 6%. Conclusions: This knowledge may prove useful for cardiologists and cardiac surgeons.


Objective: This brief report presents initial data from the Amsterdam Study of Acute Psychiatry (ASAP-I) about factors associated with the decision to admit patients compulsorily (involuntarily) to emergency psychiatric services in the Amsterdam region of the Netherlands. Methods: The study was a prospective cohort study of 1,970 consecutive patients who came into contact with the Psychiatric Emergency Service Amsterdam. Results: A history of more than 14 outpatient contacts the previous year was associated with a low risk of compulsory admission (OR=.3). An involuntary admission in the previous five years was associated with a higher risk (OR=3.7). Referral by a general practitioner was associated with a low risk compared with referral by police (OR= 2.4) or by mental health services (OR=2.3). Conclusions: The hypothesis that outpatient treatment may help to prevent compulsory admission found some support in this study. More research is needed to understand the mechanisms of the associations so that an intervention study can be developed to test this hypothesis. (Psychiatric Services 60:1543–1546, 2009)


Suuronen, Anna Ecological and social impacts of photovoltaic solar power plants and optimization of their locations in Northern Chile Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä, 2017, 31 p. (Jyväskylä Studies in Biological and Environmental Science ISSN 1456-9701; 338) ISBN 978-951-39-7247-9 (nid.) ISBN 978-951-39-7248-6 (PDF) Yhteenveto: Aurinkovoimaloiden ekologiset vaikutukset ja kestävän kehityksen huomioiva sijoittelu Pohjois-Chilessä Diss. Large scale photovoltaic (PV) solar power plants are gaining popularity in Chile. Solar energy potential in northern Chile is one of the best worldwide and true deserts are considered ideal environments for solar power plant projects. Atacama Desert is one of the driest places on earth. Nevertheless, northern Chile is home for many endemic species with 40 different vegetation types. The thesis presents studies of ecological effects (I-II) and location optimization of PV solar power plants in northern Chile (III). For ecological impacts two types of PV solar power plant technologies were studied: fixed mount solar plant and solartracking mounts. Study units were placed below the mounts or between the panels. Reference area was outside the panel area. Arthropod species composition was altered between shade and sun conditions at fixed mount power plant and, for example, dipterans were more common in shade conditions. Fixed mount solar power plants' shade conditions can act as refuge to some arthropod groups, but for vegetation, shade conditions can disturb their florescence. Abiotic conditions limited local spider species habitat selection, but invasive spider species Lactrodectus geometricus could colonize mount legs of entire plant. Precaution should be taken when planning PV projects in areas with sensitive nature. Northern Chile is an ideal place for solar power plant projects because of its high solar energy potential but environmental and social aspects of site selection should be considered. Ideal places with low environmental and landscape value are in the absolute desert situated in the central valley starting from Arica and reaching until the northern part of Atacama region. Nevertheless, cities and historical sites should be avoided. The results of this thesis provide new information about ecological environment of PV plants and gives alternatives to multidisciplinary site selection.


Information Extraction, the task of locating textual mentions of specific types of entities and their relationships, aims at representing the information contained in text documents in a structured format that is more amenable to applications in data mining, question answering, or the semantic web. The goal of our research is to design information extraction models that obtain improved performance by exploiting types of evidence that have not been explored in previous approaches. Since designing an extraction system through introspection by a domain expert is a laborious and time consuming process, the focus of this thesis will be on methods that automatically induce an extraction model by training on a dataset of manually labeled examples.
Named Entity Recognition is an information extraction task that is concerned with finding textual mentions of entities that belong to a predefined set of categories. We approach this task as a phrase classification problem, in which candidate phrases from the same document are collectively classified. Global correlations between candidate entities are captured in a model built using the expressive framework of Relational Markov Networks. Additionally, we propose a novel tractable approach to phrase classification for named entity recognition based on a special Junction Tree representation.
Classifying entity mentions into a predefined set of categories achieves only a partial disambiguation of the names. This is further refined in the task of Named Entity Disambiguation, where names need to be linked to their actual denotations. In our research, we use Wikipedia as a repository of named entities and propose a ranking approach to disambiguation that exploits learned correlations between words from the name context and categories from the Wikipedia taxonomy.
Relation Extraction refers to finding relevant relationships between entities mentioned in text documents. Our approaches to this information extraction task differ in the type and the amount of supervision required. We first propose two relation extraction methods that are trained on documents in which sentences are manually annotated for the required relationships. In the first method, the extraction patterns correspond to sequences of words and word classes anchored at two entity names occurring in the same sentence. These are used as implicit features in a generalized subsequence kernel, with weights computed through training of Support Vector Machines. In the second approach, the implicit extraction features are focused on the shortest path between the two entities in the word-word dependency graph of the sentence. Finally, in a significant departure from previous learning approaches to relation extraction, we propose reducing the amount of required supervision to only a handful of pairs of entities known to exhibit or not exhibit the desired relationship. Each pair is associated with a bag of sentences extracted automatically from a very large corpus. We extend the subsequence kernel to handle this weaker form of supervision, and describe a method for weighting features in order to focus on those correlated with the target relation rather than with the individual entities. The resulting Multiple Instance Learning approach offers a competitive alternative to previous relation extraction methods, at a significantly reduced cost in human supervision.


Five years ago I wrote a critique of the World Health Organization in the BMJ .1 One of my sources was a report by an American economist, Richard Tollison, which tore apart the WHO's budgetary priorities. Tollison's main claim was that too little of the WHO's money was spent on improving health in the developing world.2 One statement quoted in the BMJ ran, "The poorest nations in WHO are interested in basic public health, and not in the more exotic forays of WHO into the public health issues of the modern industrialised West."3 What I and the BMJ and its readers didn't know, because the report didn't say, was that Tollison was in the pay of British American Tobacco. Nor did we know that such covert funding of "independent" commentators was just one part of an elaborate campaign by the tobacco industry to discredit the WHO and divert money and attention away from tobacco control activities.

The WHO has been concerned for some time about the poor success of its anti-tobacco initiatives. The forced disclosure last year of 35 million pages of confidential tobacco industry documents alerted the WHO to the possibility of direct interference and led its director general, Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, to set …


Abstract. Larger climate variability and more frequent extreme events (e.g. droughts) are expected to occur. Hence, assessing the sensitivity (response) of terrestrial net primary productivity (NPP) to climate variability is crucial for future estimations of terrestrial carbon sequestration. We hypothesize that land-use change (LUC) can modify this sensitivity, defined here as the anomaly correlation between annual NPP and precipitation in the growing season. To assess this changing sensitivity, we use the LPJmL model driven by observed climate variability and two different land-use sets. We find that the effect of LUC is mostly extended in semi-arid grasslands: sensitivity increases with conversion into rainfed crops, but it does not change for managed pasture expansion. Reforestation in temperate regions generally decreases sensitivity: trees are able to respond later to water deficit due to their deep root system. The expansion of irrigation in northern India reduces sensitivity since water availability is not a limiting factor for crop growth. Although we are able to identify spatial patterns of changes in NPP-precipitation sensitivity, the significance of our results focusing at isolation of the land-use effect is limited.


The IT environment of various organizations is growing more complex every day. So organizations are focusing on a expanding their infrastructure and the smooth functioning oftheir systems .This demands new levels of control over the equipments and systems that power their business. This calls for effective IT Infrastructure management. The business productivity of an organization depends on the accessibility, security and performance of the IT services. This has led to many organizations outsourcing the IT Infrastructure management to the experts. This management report explores the IT Infrastructure management capabilities of Cybernet Slash Support (CSS). CSS is a global technology solutions provider to enterprises, consumers and technology companies. It helps its client to align Information Technology with their business objectives. CSS offers Infrastructure Operations Management Solutions for clients across the globe. The author of this report was given an opportunity to do internship in Cybernet Slash Support (CSS). During the internship period, the author of this report designed and developed a questionnaire in order to understand the Infrastructure management capabilities of CSS, the influence of ITIL best practices on the service delivery of CSS and the performance of the organization. The findings were derived from the answers to the questionnaire. These findings were instrumental in understanding the role of Infrastructure management capabilities in generating a competitive advantage for CSS.


More than half of the patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) are infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa in their lungs. It was thought that patients acquired unique strains of this bacterium from the environment, however in the last decades epidemic clones have been described in other countries that are most likely transmitted between CF patients. Infection with these epidemic clones has been associated with worse clinical outcome. To prevent transmission of such clones a strict segregation policy was implemented in the Netherlands without extensive knowledge of the local epidemiology. CF patients are advised not to meet, are isolated from other patients when visiting the out-patient clinic or when hospitalized and events like summer camps were discontinued. This thesis describes the population structure of P. aeruginosa as highly diverse and highly specific for different patient populations. In CF patients two dominant genotypes are described, ST406 and ST497, that are associated with specific age groups and are different from the epidemic genotypes found abroad. The epidemic strains described abroad are not found in Dutch CF patients. ST406 is harbored by 50% of CF patients between 15 and 25 years of age in 2007 and ST497 was detected mainly in older CF patients. ST406 is not associated with worse clinical outcome, but appears resistant to more antibiotic classes than unique strains and is associated with more inhaled antibiotic therapy. High persistence and possibly ease of transmission seem to have contributed to its spread. Investigating the genome, transcriptome and phenotypic features of two ST406 strains cultured from the same patient with three years in between demonstrated that ST406 is a slow growing, low virulent strain and adaptation to the CF lung niche was driven mostly by point mutations that coincided with differences in transcriptome levels and phenotypic changes, most notably with differences in biofilm formation. Some of the adaptations found in ST406 were also described for other chronic CF related strains, indicating parallel evolution of different P. aeruginosa strains to the CF lung niche. These affected genes might provide targets for future therapies.
Evaluating the effect of five years of segregation in the Netherlands yielded little difference in P. aeruginosa population structure and no statistically significant difference in acquisition of chronic infection. However, in post-hoc analysis there was a significant difference in chronic acquisition in young patients (under 15 years of age). Also there were no new acquisitions with ST406 in the newly infected patients during segregation. These findings suggest that continuing with strict segregation reduces the acquisition of chronic infection at least in young CF patients as well as the spread of shared genotypes that are associated with resistance to more antibiotic classes.


The amount of published research in Physics Education Research (PER) shows, on one hand, an increasing interest in the design and development of high performance physics teaching strategies, and, on the other hand, it tries to understand plausible ways on which the brain processes scientific information so that scientific thinking skills could be taught more effectively. As physics is a subject in which mathematical and conceptual reasoning can not be separated, instructors of physics face the problem of finding suitable advise on the most effective methods of teaching physics (i.e. how much time should be spent on intuitive conceptual reasoning and how much time in developing quantitative reasoning, and how to teach both in a unitary way). In spite the important efforts made by the PER community, the published results are overwhelming and confusing for the physics instructors in the sense that the conclusions that have arisen in those articles are in some instances controversial and far from being conclusive in pointing out a particular strategy to overcome the afore mentioned problem. Accordingly, based on the analysis of published PER work, we'll be arguing that one of the major difficulties to overcome in the teaching of physics could be associated to the lack of a consistent and coherent methodological framework for teaching which integrates both aspects, conceptual and mathematical reasoning, in a systemic way of thinking. We will be presenting a set of plausible steps that could be applied to tackle the aforementioned difficulty.


Background and Aim: Creatine plays an important role in the regulation of cellular energy in high energy demand organs such as the inner ear. It is also believed to play a protective role. This article reviewed the mechanisms and effects of creatine on the auditory and vestibular systems. Recent Findings: Creatine transporters and creatine kinase enzymes are involved in converting creatine to creatine phosphate. Phosphate is a fuel cell available in the cochlear and vestibular hair cells and the protective cells, striavascularis, peripheral and central neural pathways to the auditory cortex. It provides essential ATP for auditory and vestibular system performance. Creatine kinase prevents cochlear damage by regulating the metabolism of energy in marginal layers of the striavascularis and preventing free radical production in stressful situations. It also plays an important role in vestibular compensation. Creatine kinase dysfunction leads to an increase in the threshold of auditory brainstem potentials and a reduction in vestibular performance. The use of creatine improves vestibular evoked myogenic potentials and neurologic symptoms. Conclusion: Creatine and creatine kinase protein is essential for normal hearing and balance function and sensitivity. Creatine kinase deficiency impairs the functioning of these two systems; however, creatine consumption may boost the sensitivity of the vestibular system and neurological performance. Effects of the creatine consumption on the auditory system have not yet been examined.


The 2011 Arab uprisings began in North Africa and toppled the leaders of Tunisia and Libya, but the forces that wreaked this profound change also touched their fellow Maghreb states of Algeria and Morocco. This Adelphi book examines how the politics, security and economies – which were largely stable for decades prior to 2011 – have changed in the four states. It asks why the popular revolutions in Tunisia and Libya did not spread to Algeria and Morocco; how the revolutionary states have fared since 2011; why Libya descended into a deadly civil war while the others did not; and whether the sitting governments in Algeria and Morocco have applied sustainable strategies to address the new political climate. The book includes chapters on each of the four core Maghreb states, together with regional assessments of the jihadist threat and economic challenges. It analyses the tension between security and political reform, and argues that without persistent and comprehensive development of government institutions focused on creating jobs and providing security, the region risks future protests, terrorism or even revolution – a lesson that states throughout the Middle East should take to heart.


The paper endeavours to look into the evolution of the role of the state and move towards privatisation in India. It starts with a discussion on the role of State intervention in the economic development within the contours of socio-economic and political circumstances. It recognises the fact that different scholars have advocated various ways through which state can intervene in an advanced capitalist economy and a developing economy or a colony. The nature of intervention is different in each case. The paper argues that State owned enterprises (SOEs) are one such manifestation of state Intervention. In many developing countries, state enterprises are assigned the responsibility of fulfilling specific social goals, which have their origin in colonial period. Whatever may be the idea behind the creation of such enterprises, they come into existence either by direct state investment or through nationalisation of private enterprises. The state intervenes through state owned enterprises in the countries where investment needs for different projects are large and the expected returns at least in the short run are too low to motivate private capital to invest. Since 1980, however, the intervention by the state through state owned enterprises has been undergoing a close scrutiny in many developing countries including India. The argument is that excessive political interference and lack of managerial interests (autonomy) hamper the performance of state enterprises. It has resulted in the reflection of various theories on assessing the performance of state enterprises which includes property rights theory, public choice theory, non-market failure and competition theory. Since economic policy making by the state requires balance of accumulation and legitimisation, then generally, the adopted economic policy serves the interests of a few major social groups. These dominant social groups react to the adopted policy and their reactions are normally taken into account while amending the existing policy or making the new economic policy. Hence, the proper understanding of the economic policy of an economy like India necessitates its historical evaluation. Therefore, in this chapter, the whole period of interaction of economic policy and state owned sector in the post-independence India has been divided into following four phases: (i) 1950-1965, (ii) 1966-1984, (iii) 1984-91 and (iv) post-1991 policy regime. During the first phase, i.e. 1950-65, the growth rates of the economy were generally high and state owned sector was occupying the position of 'commanding heights'. Despite the economy passing through crisis during this phase, the state owned sector enjoyed by and large a significant position. The policy adopted in 1982 was a step forward towards the process of liberalisation. In state owned enterprises, a visible change in the attitude took place. The economy was made predominantly dependent upon market forces rather than on the state. The industrial policy that was initiated in 1985 was the culmination of the process of drifting away, which started during the second phase of the economic policy in India. In the Post 1991, Policy Regime, the Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Plan documents suggested many policy initiatives towards restructuring, modernisation, rationalisation of capacity, product-mix changes, privatisation, autonomy, performance accountability and disinvestments policy. However many studies emerged in favour of and against the policy of privatisation and disinvestment of SOEs and also on the performance of those enterprises that were privatised. While referring to those studies, the chapter looks into the trends of the privatisation of State Owned Enterprises from 1991 to 2000 and points out that during this period, the government offloaded shares in as many as 39 state owned enterprises. However, since March 2000 emphasis has increasingly been on strategic sales of identified state owned enterprises (SOEs). The chapter ends with a critical analysis of the performance of disinvestment process in india and observes that the policy of disinvestment has been looked upon with scepticism. JEL Classifications: O11, P41, P47, P52


This study examined the prevalence of cyber incivility as perpetrated by supervisors, its impact on individuals and the organization. Specifically, we examine whether working adults in Singapore experience cyber incivility when interacting with their supervisors via emails at the workplace. We also examine the impact of receiving uncivil emails from supervisors on employees' work and organizational attitudes. The effect of supervisor's gender on types of cyber uncivil behaviors were also investigated. Results suggested that male supervisors engaged in different kinds of cyber uncivil behaviors compared to female supervisors. Results of our study provided useful insights for researchers and managers in understanding the frequency and importance of email usage between employees and supervisors, as well as the role of information technology in facilitating cyber rudeness at the workplace.


This contribution to the North Carolina Law Review's 2010 symposium, Adaptation and Resiliency in Legal Systems, considers the compatibility between the common law nature of honest services fraud and the dynamic quality of public integrity offenses. Corruption enforcement became a focal point of recent debates about overcriminalization because it typifies expansive legislative mandates for prosecutors and implicit delegations to courts. Federal prosecutions of political corruption have relied primarily on an open-textured provision: 18 U.S.C. § 1346, the honest services extension of the mail fraud statute. Section 1346 raises notice concerns because it contains few self-limiting terms, but it has also acquired some principled contours through common law rulemaking. Those boundaries are consistent with an animating principle of public corruption prosecutions: ensuring detached decisionmaking in the public interest. The distortive potential of significant personal financial gain may best distinguish actionable corruption from ordinary political dealings. Although the Supreme Court granted certiorari in the Skilling, Black, and Weyhrauch trio of cases in part to consider the link between harm and liability for honest services fraud, the Court did not address the issue, instead simply limiting the statute to bribes and kickbacks. Recent public corruption prosecutions illustrate some shortcomings of that decision and indicate that the courts could better confine honest services fraud by building on the harm constraint that had begun to emerge through the common law. The concluding sections here explore both the way in which a purposive interpretation might limit honest services prosecutions and the extent to which unanswered questions in the Skilling decision still allow for development of the harm concept.


Since the commencement of the implementation of a decentralized system of administration in livestock production, little, if any strategies have been fully supported in a bid to mitigate against droughts. There is scanty knowledge and evidence on this subject. This study is expected to inform theory and practice by interrogating the administrative function, drawing lessons from Garissa County which depend on this trade for its sustainability. Drought remains the single most cause of loss of livestock. Trends indicate that in 2012, the percentage of animals that died as a result of drought was 23%, 24% in 2013, 22.5% in 2014, 20% in 2015and 23% in 2016. This scenario puts into question the relevance and effectiveness of draught mitigation measures being implemented by the county government. The study employed descriptive case study design, using a semi structured questionnaire to collect both qualitative and quantitative data. The findings indicated that the county administrative structure was not responsive to the strategic policies set up to create sustainable solutions. Results of the study also revealed a breakdown of communication between government officials and the communities. Feedback from the livestock keepers was not effectively communicated through established administrative structures. Also, findings indicated that delayed disbursement of finances negatively affected the delivery of livestock production in the county.


A strong contention of the "representative turn" is that representation is consubstantial with politics (Saward, 2010). One way to test the heuristic value of this vision is to look for representation in an institution that was historically built against representation, namely participatory budgeting (PB), a democratic innovation that has spread globally with exceptional rapidity. The literature on PB identifies two types of relationships between participation and representation: (i) participation "challenges" (Houtzager & Gurza Lavalle, 2009) existing forms and principles of representation (through "assumed representation" by civil society activists; or through "citizen agents"; Montambeault, 2016); or (ii) participation is "instrumentalised" (Fischer, 2012) by classic forms and actors of representation. On the basis of a comparative analysis of PB experiences in Chengdu (China) and Delhi (India), we argue in this article that a third type of relationship can be observed: participation—as implemented through PB—can also redistribute representation insofar as new, official representative roles are created. Moreover, looking at these new roles provides important clues about the principles of representation that are implemented and therefore about the transformative nature of PB.


This article reflects on the origins and development of social tourism in Brazil, with particular reference to the socio-economic conditions in the country. It discusses the theoretical conceptualisation of social tourism and its implementations in the non-European context. The case study presented here is based on a secondary bibliographical research of existing definitions and an in-depth analysis of the political conditions that have framed its development. More particularly, this article will discuss public initiatives since the Labour Party gained power in Brazil in 2003. Apart from public sector involvement in social tourism, this article also examines the role of the third sector in provision. The example of Social Service of Commerce will be presented. This article will conclude by evaluating the phenomenon of social tourism in Brazil, highlighting where progress has been made and which are the key challenges that need to be overcome.


Toyin Falola, ed. The Dark Webs: Perspectives on Colonialism in Africa. Durham, N.C.: Carolina Academic Press, 2005. ix + 486 pp. Photographs. Notes. References. Index. $45.00. Paper. Toyin Falola has been examining European colonialism in Africa since the 1970s. Editor of the recently published five-volume Africa series from Carolina Academic Press, two volumes of which directly consider colonialism, Falola has produced a separate work here using new scholarship that takes this difficult topic in challenging directions. Whereas the former series was created for the general public and undergraduates, The Dark Webs is an intellectual history more appropriate for professors, advanced undergraduates, and graduate students. The book is divided into three parts: the context for colonialism in Africa, literary texts on colonialism, and the ideas of African intellectuals and political leaders. The editor provides readers with an introductory chapter that sets the stage for those that follow. Falola considers racism, violence, cultural hegemony, and economic issues-all of which color the tense, unequal relationship between colonial powers and Africa. He concludes with a paragraph that calls for reparations from the West, but does not include references on this topic, such as AIi Mazrui's 1994 African Studies Association Abiola Lecture or Falola's own work; in view of its focus on colonialism, the collection would have benefited from a section in the bibliography on reparations or even a chapter on the historiography of reparations and remedies proposed for the festering legacy of the Atlantic slave trade. The first part of the book (almost half) focuses on case studies as well as broader themes, including a historical survey of the rise of African nationalism, British plans for decolonization in 1947, the diaspora and pan-Africanism, precolonial society and colonial responses of the Igala in Nigeria, the relationship between African Christianity and Ethiopianism, rents in colonial Africa, and the Niger Delta. A much briefer second part explores literary issues and African identity: fiction and colonialism, colonialism's impact on Africa's new intellectuals, South African literature, and individual figures such as Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Valentin-Yves Mudimbe, and Micere Mugo. Africaniste who draw on literature in their teaching will find this a rich source. The third part considers African intellectuals and is particularly useful for Africanist historians like myself. Common themes in this last section are historiographies of African history and African studies, which are often considered in courses in which Africaniste dispel Western myths about Africa and discuss issues related to sources. …


The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of initiating body checking at the Atom age level. The study used an experimental design in which teams from the Ottawa District Minor Hockey Association (ODMHA) represented the control group, while teams from the Ontario Hockey Federation (OHF) represented the treatment group. The study was conducted over a 3-year period from 1998 to 2001. The comparison sampling between the two leagues was as follows: ODMHA Yr1 = 69 teams versus OHF Yr1 = 74 teams, ODMHA Yr2 = 59 teams versus OHF Yr2 = 101 teams, ODMHA Yr3 = 46 teams versus OHF Yr3 = 90 teams. Measures of interest reported here included player selection bias, injury incidence, and variables that describe the characteristics of the flow of the game such as goals for, goals against, and number of penalties. Athlete exposures for each league by year were computed using 15 players per team for a 20 game plus 20 practice schedule. Statistical analysis of the difference in proportions of injuries reported by the two leagues based on the CHA injury insurance dataset showed that no significant difference occurred per year of the study. In addition, the rates of injuries were lower in each year than those reported by previously published studies. Body checking, which includes body contact is considered by many to be a skill within the game of ice hockey that can be taught at the younger age levels in a manner that does not lead to a higher incidence of injuries, or unfavorable changes in the game. The results of this study support that contention. In the present study, it was assumed that education was an essential component of the introduction process and that coaches were provided the necessary background to enable them to teach the introduction of body checking as a skill.


An eight‐week feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the contribution of biofloc on dietary lipid requirement in whiteleg shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei. Five diets with graded levels of dietary lipid (45, 60, 90, 120 and 150 g/kg) were fed to juvenile shrimp. Final weight, weight gain and specific growth rate of shrimp fed diets with 60, 90 and 120 g/kg lipid levels were significantly higher than those of shrimp fed diets with lipid levels 45 and 150 g/kg (p < .05). Feed efficiency and protein efficiency ratio of shrimp fed 60, 90 and 120 g/kg were higher than those fed 150 g/kg diet. Plasma total cholesterol and triglyceride levels were lower in shrimp fed 45 g/kg compared with those fed the 90 g/kg (p < .05). Also, lysozyme activity for 90 g/kg group was higher than the 15 g/kg group. Hepatopancreas lipase and amylase activities of shrimp fed 90 and 120 g/kg diets were significantly higher than those of shrimp fed 45 and 150 g/kg diets. Broken‐line regression analysis for weight gain indicated that the dietary lipid requirement of whiteleg shrimp juveniles reared in a biofloc system was estimated to be higher than 56 g/kg but <60 g/kg.


This thesis presents NC(T), an extension of the DPLL(T) scheme [16, 29] for decision procedures for quantifier-free first-order logics. In DPLL(T), a general Boolean DPLL engine is instantiated with a theory solver for the theory T. The DPLL engine is responsible for computing Boolean implications and detecting Boolean conflicts, while the theory solver detects implications and conflicts in T, and the communication between the two parts is done through a standardized interface. The Boolean reasoning is done on a set of constraints represented as clauses, meaning that formulas have to be converted to conjunctive normal form before they can be processed. The process results in the addition of variables and a general loss of structure. NC(T) remove this constraint by extending the Boolean engine to support the detection of implications and conflicts on non–clausal constraints, using techniques working on graphical representations of formulas in negation normal form first described in [19, 21]. Conversion to negation normal form preserves the size and structure of the input formula and does not introduce new variables. The above scheme NC(T) has been implemented as a tool called fstp, where the theory T under consideration is the quantifier–free theory of uninterpreted function and predicate symbols with equality. We describe our implementation and give early experimental results.


A long history of fire suppression in the western United States has significantly changed forest structure and ecological function, leading to increasingly uncharacteristic fires in terms of size and severity. Prior analyses of fire severity in California forests showed that time since last fire and fire weather conditions predicted fire severity very well, while a larger regional analysis showed that topography and climate were important predictors of high severity fire. There has not yet been a large-scale study that incorporates topography, vegetation and fire-year climate to determine regional scale high severity fire occurrence. We developed models to predict the probability of high severity fire occurrence for the western US. We predict high severity fire occurrence with some accuracy, and identify the relative importance of predictor classes in determining the probability of high severity fire. The inclusion of both vegetation and fire-year climate predictors was critical for model skill in identifying fires with high fractional fire severity. The inclusion of fire-year climate variables allows this model to forecast inter-annual variability in areas at future risk of high severity fire, beyond what slower-changing fuel conditions alone can accomplish. This allows for more targeted land management, including resource allocation for fuels reduction treatments to decrease the risk of high severity fire.


At the end of 2011, the founders of the China Greentech Initiative (CGTI) wanted to grow the company while respecting its unique hybrid business model that combined a collaborative open source community with more traditional strategic research services. The case follows CGTI from its initial goal of establishing a road map for the Chinese green technology market, to further catalyzing the sector through a combination of collaborative network building and customized advisory services. CGTI's hybrid business model and dual mission of profit and social value creation complicated the founders' decisions as they considered different expansion options, including new product and service offerings, and potentially expanding geographical coverage.Learning Objective:To discuss and analyze how collaborative open source business models can be leveraged by entrepreneurs to find opportunities that simultaneously create business and social value.


This chapter is about globalization in higher education and how "globalism" is playing a role in stimulating university transformation around the world. Our specific focus is on international university ranking lists. Such lists are being given increasingly more space and attention in the mass media and by governments as well as by supranational organizations and the universities themselves. There has also been an increase in the number of ranking lists, each one presenting somewhat different criteria and procedures for identifying ranking positions. But do such ranking lists matter? And if so, what effects do they have on higher education? Marginson (2009, p. 11) argues that at least the policy effects of such lists are quite substantial:


Gamification is an emerging phenomenon that has been advocated for its potential to improve organisational outcomes. The present study aimed to examine the effect of gamification in a perceptual diagnosis task. Forty participants completed a 22-minute visual search task. To investigate the role of game mechanics participants were divided into four conditions resulting from the factorial combination of the narrative mechanic (narrative and control condition) and the points mechanic (Points and no-points control condition). Attention effort, motivation, and work engagement were measured through performance metrics, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), and self-report questionnaires. The results revealed points significantly increased task performance while narrative significantly increased intrinsic motivation and prefrontal oxygenation. These findings may provide much needed contributions to the literature surrounding gamification. It was also revealed that fNIRS measures of frontal activation may be a reasonable objective indicator of initial cognitive effort. This presents significant real world applications for objectively measuring motivation.