Pheromones regulate olfactory plasticity in nematodes. Nematodes show positive chemotaxis toward odorants that indicate food, such as benzaldehyde, but failure to reach food after prolonged exposure induces dispersal from the odorant, a phenomenon called olfactory plasticity. Dauer pheromone, which is a mixture of sugar derivatives secreted by all worms, is an environmental cue that indicates population density and influences developmental decisions; high concentrations of pheromones induce worms to develop as dauer larvae, which are nonreproductive and resistant to starvation. Yamada et al. noted that the strength of olfactory plasticity in Caenorhabditis elegans positively correlated with the number of animals in the population and that pheromone biosynthesis–defective daf-22 mutants showed reduced olfactory plasticity, a phenotype that was reversed by treating the animals with purified pheromones. A genetic screen identified nep-2, which encodes a homolog of the mammalian metalloprotease neprilysin, as required in the nervous system for olfactory plasticity in benzaldehyde-induced chemotaxis, suggesting that degradation of a peptide signal was required for olfactory plasticity. The authors identified the putative neuropeptide precursor suppressor of nep-2 (SNET-1) in a secondary screen for mutations that suppressed the nep-2 phenotype. Expression of snet-1 in several sensory and interneurons increased in daf-22 mutants as compared with wild type (WT), suggesting that sensory input regulated snet-1 expression. Importantly, snet-1 was not expressed in the ASI sensory neurons in WT but was expressed in these neurons in daf-22 mutants. ASI neurons regulate dauer formation, and the addition of dauer pheromone to the culture rescued the ectopic expression phenotype. A null mutation in snet-1 restored olfactory plasticity in daf-22 mutants. These results suggest that SNET-1 is a secreted neuropeptide that negatively regulates olfactory plasticity, is down-regulated by dauer pheromone, and is degraded by NEP-2. This model provides a mechanism whereby high population density enhances olfactory plasticity to induce dispersal of animals. K. Yamada, T. Hirotsu, M. Matsuki, R. A. Butcher, M. Tomioka, T. Ishihara, J. Clardy, H. Kunitomo, Y. Iino, Olfactory plasticity is regulated by pheromonal signaling in Caenorhabditis elegans. Science 329, 1647–1650 (2010). [Abstract] [Full Text]


We introduce competing cognitive resilient network (CCRN) of mobile radios challenged to optimize data throughput and networking efficiency under dynamic spectrum access and adversarial threats (e.g., jamming). Unlike the conventional approaches, CCRN features both communicator and jamming nodes in a friendly coalition to take joint actions against hostile networking entities. In particular, this paper showcases hypothetical blue force and red force CCRNs and their competition for open spectrum resources. We present state-agnostic and stateful solution approaches based on the decision theoretic framework. The state-agnostic approach builds on multiarmed bandit to develop an optimal strategy that enables the exploratory-exploitative actions from sequential sampling of channel rewards. The stateful approach makes an explicit model of states and actions from an underlying Markov decision process and uses multiagent Q-learning to compute optimal node actions. We provide a theoretical framework for CCRN and propose new algorithms for both approaches. Simulation results indicate that the proposed algorithms outperform some of the most important algorithms known to date.


The article presents the idea of creating a blind-friendly Versatile Multimodal Linear Interface (VMLI) model for touchscreen-based devices as well as the results of pilot study and implementation of VMLI.
 VMLI enhances operation of touchscreen-based mobile devices and facilitates the use of a touchscreen by the blind. VMLI transforms a planar layout of objects into hierarchically structured linear lists that allow non-sequential access to items. List items are read by VMLI using installed text-to-speech software; users navigate through lists and select items using specific touchscreen gestures preferred by the blind. VMLI allows choosing user's preferred method of text input: using a virtual QWERTY keyboard, a virtual Braille keyboard or a physical one of a Braille notetaker. The results of preliminary research on pilot implementation of VMLI into the Android system, concerning functions like managing contacts and composing messages to selected recipients, give grounds for continuing works on VMLI.


This paper addresses the problem of identifying the top-k information hubs in a social network. Identifying top-k information hubs is crucial for many applications such as advertising in social networks where advertisers are interested in identifying hubs to whom free samples can be given. Existing solutions are centralized and require time stamped information about pair-wise user interactions and can only be used by social network owners as only they have access to such data. Existing distributed and privacy preserving algorithms suffer from poor accuracy. In this paper, we propose a new algorithm to identify information hubs that preserves user privacy. The intuition is that highly connected users tend to have more interactions with their neighbors than less connected users. Our method can identify hubs without requiring a central entity to access the complete friendship graph. We achieve this by fully distributing the computation using the Kempe-McSherry algorithm to address user privacy concerns. To the best of our knowledge, the proposed algorithm represents an arguably first attempt that (1) uses friendship graphs (instead of interaction graphs), (2) employs a truly distributed method over friendship graphs, and (3) maintains user privacy by not requiring them to disclose their friend associations and interactions, for identifying information hubs in social networks. We evaluate the effectiveness of our proposed technique using a real-world Facebook data set containing about 3.1 million users and more than 23 million friendship links. The results of our experiments show that our algorithm is 50% more accurate than existing distributed algorithms. Results also show that the proposed algorithm can estimate the rank of the top-k information hubs users more accurately than existing approaches.


This paper investigates whether cultural norms shaped by religion drive consumer decisions after a corporate scandal. We exploit the unexpected notice of violation by the US Environmental Protection Agency in September 2015, accusing the car producer Volkswagen (VW) to have used software to manipulate car emission values during test phases. Using a difference-in-difference model, we show that new registrations of VW (diesel) cars decline significantly in German counties with a high share of Protestants following the VW scandal. Our results suggest that the enforcement culture rooted in Protestantism affects consumer decisions and penalises corporate fraud.


Whether and how much intergenerational transfers contribute to wealth inequality is still subject to debate. This column analyses household survey data on inheritance and gifts inter vivos in France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Spain, and the US to relate current household wealth levels and inequality to the receipt of intergenerational wealth transfers. In these countries, large transfers increase overall wealth inequality. Strengthening taxation capacity and instating lifetime capital acquisitions tax for gifts and inheritances may help counter the disequalising effect of intergenerational transfers.


The dispersal of seeds is crucial for the survival of many plant species. Fragmentation of the European cultural landscape and changes in land management, e.g. decrease of livestock numbers and lower mobility of livestock between different areas, have severely limited spatial dispersal processes, and thereby made a major contribution to the reduction of species richness of cultural landscapes. Reintroduction of extensive grazing regimes involving large domestic herbivores is often claimed to restore the connectivity between separated populations via endo- and epizoochorous dispersal of seeds. This thesis aimed to investigate sheep-induced seed dispersal over long distances and its contribution to the recruitment of especially target species. The use of a sheep grazing regime which involves consecutive grazing of well-developed target communities, as a seed source, followed by less-developed sinks, could increase the quality of dispersed seeds (more target species). If recruitment takes place successfully, spatially isolated populations can be functionally re-connected or new sites colonised. The study was carried out in three inland sand ecosystems, relatively isolated from each other in the landscape (Darmstadt region, Germany). The two larger areas "Ehemaliger August-Euler-Flugplatz von Darmstadt" and "Griesheimer Dune und Eichwaldchen" are both nature protection areas, grazed by sheep since 1999/2000. Animals walk a 3-km distance when transferring from one area to the other. Recently, for restoration purposes an abandoned agricultural field "Streitgewann" was also included in the grazing system. "Streitgewann" is situated between the first two areas and could function as a "stepping stone". Dispersal and post-dispersal processes within and between the above-mentioned areas were analysed. As seed sources mostly well-developed target communities Koelerion glaucae (Kg), Armerio-Festucetum trachyphyllae (AF) and Allio-Stipetum capillatae (AS) were used. All investigations employed three or four tamed male sheep. First of all, species compositions of grazing sources and epizoochorously dispersed seeds (both intra- and inter-area transfers) were determined. The quantities and species composition of seeds detected in sheep coats before and after walking from one area to another were compared to test for potential seed losses. Additionally, the impact of seed surface structure, seed mass and plant seed-releasing height on attachment was tested. Naturally attached seeds of Stipa capillata and Agrimonia procera were used to study retention times and detachment rates during different herbivore activities (long-distance walking, grazing). In total, 56 seed species were detected in investigated sheep coats. Half of the species in the three vegetation types were target species. In sheep coats target species were slightly over-represented; among them were seven Red List species. Quantitatively, most transported seeds belonged to target species, whereas almost no graminoid competitors were detected. No significant numbers of epizoochorously transported seeds dropped out of the sheep coats during 3-km inter-area transfers, whereas many seeds of S. capillata and A. procera detached in the sink area. Longer duration of the grazing period and grooming behaviour probably stimulate seed detachment. Furthermore, it was shown that attachment is determined by seed mass and seed morphological appendages. Seeds without well-developed seed structures are probably negatively affected by seed mass, whereas seeds with structures (e.g. hooks) seem to have an equal attachment probability, regardless of mass. The fate of epizoochorously dispersed seeds was studied for 14 seed species. Most of them were endangered target species of inland sand ecosystems, for which epizoochorous dispersal was already shown in our previous investigations. Three 10 m x 10 m sand fields were established at a former agricultural field. Per field two sheep were present for 24 h; seeds were experimentally attached to their coats. The impact of sheep trampling on seedling emergence was also tested for two threatened species: Jurinea cyanoides (EU Fauna-Flora-Habitat directive species) and Koeleria glauca. Sheep trampling patterns, seed detachment rates and spatial dispersal patterns of the three largest-seeded species (Stipa capillata, Medicago minima and Cynoglossum officinale) were studied. Also, seedling emergence and survival of all included species were recorded over an 8-month period. The relatively brief sheep presence at the sand fields resulted in high detachment rates. Seedlings of almost all species emerged (up to 40 % of original seed number). Analysing the patterns of sheep trampling, seed shadow, and seedling emergence by use of Spatial Analysis by Distance Indices (SADIE), showed non-random distributions. Generally, a positive correlation between sheep abundance and the number of relocated seeds and emerged seedlings was found, whereas individual species showed a variable trampling response. The seedling emergence of J. cyanoides increased after trampling, whereas K. glauca showed no effect. Estimation of the potential contribution of herbivores to plant species dispersal via the endozoochorous pathway has mostly been based on results of seedling emergence tests. To check the reliability of such estimates, a comparison of viable seed contents in sheep dung by use of two methods was conducted. Dung was collected after a 6-day grazing period in one of the target communities (Allio-Stipetum). Following the Ter Heerdt method (TH), samples were concentrated and kept under controlled conditions (glasshouse or climate room, duration experiment 5 months). In the second seedling emergence test (common garden method, CG) unconcentrated samples were kept outdoors (15 months). Qualitative and quantitative similarities between the two methods were calculated by use of Sorenson similarity index (QS). Detected seeds showed a highly similar species composition (QS = 0.81) and content (QS = 0.69). Some more seedlings emerged via TH, and especially several small-seeded winter annuals (Veronica arvensis, Arenaria serpyllifolia, Arabis glabra) showed a higher emergence. More species and higher quantities of hard-coated seed species of Fabaceae and Cistaceae emerged outdoors (CG). In relation to each other, both methods offer a valuable means of estimating the potential seed input via dung deposition. If the main research interest is the species composition, CG should be used. TH, on the other hand, better estimates the overall viable seed content and uses less space and time. Finally, the impact of endozoochorously transported seeds, the deposition of dung, disturbance by removal of the moss layer (Hypnum cupressiforme), and dung removal by the dung beetle Typhaeus typhoeus (Linnaeus, 1758) on fine-scale species richness was investigated (factorial experiment).. Sheep dung was collected after the same source paddocks used for epizoochory investigations were grazed (Kg, AF, AS). The species composition and viable seed content of dung-embedded seeds were analysed by use of seedling emergence tests. Treatments were established in the field in stands having different productivity (Kg 40 cm). As a result, several disturbance species, e.g. Oenothera biennis and Polygonum aviculare, emerged at high rates from the dung beetle-disturbed topsoil. Disturbance of the moss layer promoted seedling emergence from dung and soil seed bank in semi-ruderalised AF plots, and the emergence of especially herbs resulted in increased fine-scale species richness. The vegetation of the most productive AF plots responded differently to the two treatments (disturbance of moss layer and dung deposition) in comparison with semi-ruderalised AF plots. Phytodiversity and plant density were initially suppressed in both treatments and additionally dung deposition decreased the abundance of graminoid competitors Carex hirta and Cynodon dactylon. Nevertheless, the reduced competition and soil fertilising effect of dung presumably promoted those same competitors in a later stage. Increased competition probably limited species diversity. The effect of herbivore-induced disturbance and endozoochorously transported seeds on fine-scale species richness probably depends at least partly on the productivity of the established vegetation. The present study has shown that a regime of sheep grazing, the use of well-developed target communities as seed sources and inter-area transfers between isolated habitats offers a good management measure for conservation and restoration of open inland sand ecosystems in fragmented landscapes. A large sheep flock (around 600 animals) and the presence of a high proportion of habitat-typical species in the selected grazing sources promote epi- and endozoochorous dispersal of millions of seeds of target species over long distances. Additionally, herbivore activity can increase the availability of micro-sites. By altering main determinants of recruitment (especially seed and micro-site availability), sheep play an important role in the establishment of target species and promote species-richness, especially in early and mid-successional stages.


Radiomics is a relatively new concept that consists of extracting data from images and applies advanced characterization algorithms to generate imaging features. These features are biomarkers with prognostic and predictive value, which provide a characterization of tumor phenotypes in a non-invasive manner. The clinical application of radiomics is hampered by challenges such as lack of image acquisition and analysis standardization. Textural features extracted from computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) images of patients diagnosed with head and neck cancers can be used in the pre-therapeutic evaluation of the response to multimodal chemo-radiotherapy. For patients with positive HPV-oropharyngeal cancers, the correlation of the radiomic textural features from the tumor with p16 values from the pathological sample can identify tumor specific signatures in CT imaging, an entity with favorable prognosis and a better response to chemo-radiotherapy. Pretreatment contrast CT-scans were extracted and radiomics analysis of gross tumor volume were performed using MaZda package apart from MaZda software containing B11 program for texture analysis and visualization. Data set was randomly divided into a training dataset and a test dataset and machine learning algorithms were applied to identify a textural radiomic signature. Radiomic texture analysis and machine learning algorithms demonstrate a predictive potential related to the capability of stratification for subclasses of platinum-chemotherapy resistance and radioresistant head and neck cancers requiring an intensification of multimodal treatment.


Zircon populations from two plagiogranites in the plutonic section of the Troodos ophiolite yield U-Pb dates between 90.3 ±0.7 and 92.4 ±0.7 Ma. Zircons from one of the two samples yield U-Pb dates of 90.3 ±0.7 and 92.1 ±0.7 Ma. This difference is greater than our analytical error, and the zircons are therefore considered to be slightly discordant. Two fractions from another sample are internally and externally concordant and have an average date of 91.6 ±1.4 Ma. This date is adopted as the age of plagiogranite crystallization. The plutonic section of the Troodos ophiolite is complex in that several generations of intrusion can be identified. The plagiogranites occur at the top of the intrusive section and represent fractionated residua of magma chambers related to the lower pillow lavas. They are possibly slightly older than small ultramafic layered complexes that represent the final intrusive episode within the Troodos ophiolite. There is good agreement between our results and the ages of radiolaria which occur in umbers intercalated with the upper pillow lavas of Troodos (Blome and Irwin, 1985). This shows that the 75 to 85 Ma K-Ar dates on the lavas and sheeted dikes (Desmet et al., 1978; Delaloye and Desmet, 1979; Delaloye et al., 1980; Staudigel et al., 1986) represent age resetting unrelated to ophiolite formation. The Troodos U-Pb zircon ages are slightly lower than U-Pb zircon ages from the Samail ophiolite in Oman, which vary between 93.5 and 97.9 Ma and average 95 Ma (Tilton et al., 1981). The small difference in age between the Troodos and the Samail ophiolites and the geochemical similarities of basalts from both complexes to island-arc volcanic rocks imply that a 3000-km axis of rift-related island arcs formed between 91 and 98 Ma. Emplacement of the ophiolites followed during the early Maastrichtian.


Abstract. The last 2 decades have seen substantial technological advances
in the development of low-cost air pollution instruments using small
sensors. While their use continues to spread across the field of atmospheric chemistry, the air quality monitoring community, and for commercial and private use, challenges remain in ensuring data quality and
comparability of calibration methods. This study introduces a seven-step
methodology for the field calibration of low-cost sensor systems using
reference instrumentation with user-friendly guidelines, open-access code,
and a discussion of common barriers to such an approach. The methodology has been developed and is applicable for gas-phase pollutants, such as for the measurement of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) or ozone (O3). A full
example of the application of this methodology to a case study in an urban
environment using both multiple linear regression (MLR) and the random
forest (RF) machine-learning technique is presented with relevant R code
provided, including error estimation. In this case, we have applied it to
the calibration of metal oxide gas-phase sensors (MOSs). Results reiterate
previous findings that MLR and RF are similarly accurate, though with
differing limitations. The methodology presented here goes a step further
than most studies by including explicit transparent steps for addressing
model selection, validation, and tuning, as well as addressing the common
issues of autocorrelation and multicollinearity. We also highlight the need
for standardized reporting of methods for data cleaning and flagging, model
selection and tuning, and model metrics. In the absence of a standardized
methodology for the calibration of low-cost sensor systems, we suggest a
number of best practices for future studies using low-cost sensor systems to ensure greater comparability of research.


Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the perceptions of strategic actors in multinational organisations and to contribute to our understanding of how multinational companies articulate and define talent management and how – or what – they perceive its value to be.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on an empirical research study in which data were collected through 50 in-depth interviews across five multinational companies, conducted at a regional level across ten countries. Participants in the study were strategic actors representing two groups of managers/leaders (HR and talent management system designers and business leaders who are directly involved in the implementation of talent management).

Findings

The absence of a formal talent management definition led to the emergence of different views and interpretations of what it is. It was viewed as a bundle, or set, of management ideologies manifested in all HR-related practices across four key areas: hiring the right talent, performance management, succession planning and development and retention. Performance management acted as the cornerstone. Talent management strategies displayed little participation for both system designers and implementers and distinct patterns of mystification, technologization and concretisation. The language of value was uncommonly used but provoked different ways of thinking about the role and meaning of talent management.

Practical implications

The strategic actors in the talent system continue to see talent management in narrow functional and HR process terms. However, by bundling these HR functions and processes together, it is evident that they can be encouraged to recast their activity in a broader strategic narrative. Borrowing the notions and theories of value and value creation, and investigating talent management through this lens, should help to surface interesting insights into how talent management might be defined in practice, and how the language of value may in future be used to understand what talent management really is.

Originality/value

The global study underpinning this paper attempts to deconstruct the understanding that strategic actors have about talent management from an empirical base. It contributes to the conceptual development of the talent management discourse by revealing the logics being pursued and address the definitional problem currently evidenced in the literature. It also provides direction for future research.


1. Department of Biological Sciences, Manchester Metropolitan University, England 2. Allergy, Environmental and Orthomolecular Medicine 127 Second Street, Los Altos, California 94022, USA Abstract This paper presents a new account of the action of ascorbate in humans: the dynamic flow model. The model is consistent with previous studies and with the known properties of vitamin C. Based on this model, we propose a mechanism by which human physiology can compensate for losing the ability to synthesize vitamin C. The dynamic flow approach links Linus Pauling's megadose suggestions with other reported effects of massive doses for the treatment of disease. The model also refutes the current low dose hypothesis and resulting recommendations for dietary intakes.


In a Ponzi scheme, new investments are used to pay existing investors, to cover the cost of salespersons, and to finance the Ponzi schemer's satisfying lifestyle. Although Charles Ponzi recruited investors in Boston in 1919 and died in 1949, his design and mode of operation are alive and well today. Indeed, losses from Ponzi schemes in the United States are equal to losses from shoplifting. Ponzi schemes catch in their net highly sophisticated individuals and institutions as well as low-income and middle-income investors, and these schemes have attracted investors all over the world, in Russia, England, India, Albania, Romania, Portugal, Costa Rica, and elsewhere. Looking into the innumerable cases of Ponzi schemes throughout the years, Tamar Frankel observes that even though patterns began to emerge in the stories of con artists and their victims' behavior, the main puzzles still remain: How do con artists dazzle and lure wealthy and educated individuals and representatives of large institutions to hand over huge sums of money? How do con artists divert investors' attention from the soft spots of their stories? And while there are so many books and articles about Ponzi schemes, their warnings and constant advice on how to detect and avoid con artists go unheeded. In The Ponzi Scheme Puzzle, Frankel explores con artists' fascinating power of persuasion and deception, and analyzes their subtle signals that mimic truth and honesty. She identifies the reasons for the local and global success and longevity of such schemes and seeks to understand the nature of the con artists and their victims. She combines the many stories of Ponzi schemes, derived mostly from court cases and newspaper articles, to show the patterns of such frauds, the nature of the con artists, and character of their victims. These patterns tell us much about human nature, about our society, and about ourselves. The book first analyzes the design and pattern of the con artists' attractive offers and how they hide deceptions, then deals with the ways in which schemes are advertised and sold. Next, it focuses on the core of con artists' success, then discusses the characters of con artists and their victims. Finally, Frankel offers a number of observations on the lessons we can learn from these stories and analyses. She concludes that our attitude to con artists is ambivalent and uncertain perhaps because their behavior is so close to the behavior of honest people; or perhaps because they act like the social leaders with whom they are likely to mingle, or perhaps their actions are necessary to shake up a complacent society. Therefore, she writes, self-protection from charming, dangerous con artists must involve self-examination: once we recognize our own tendencies we can better protect ourselves from their toxic attraction. Available in OSO:


It is widely recognized that changes in levels of ovarian steroids modulate severity of autoimmune disease and immune function in young adult women. These observations suggest that the loss of ovarian steroids associated with menopause could affect the age-related decline in immune function, known as immune senescence. Therefore, in this study, we determined the impact of menopause and estrogen therapy (ET) on lymphocyte subset frequency as well as the immune response to seasonal influenza vaccine in three different groups: 1) young adult women (regular menstrual cycles, not on hormonal contraception); 2) post-menopausal (at least 2 years) women who are not receiving any form of hormone therapy (HT) and 3) post-menopausal hysterectomized women receiving ET. Although the numbers of circulating CD4 and CD20 B cells were reduced in the post-menopausal group receiving ET, we also detected a better preservation of naïve B cells, decreased CD4 T cell inflammatory cytokine production, and slightly lower circulating levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-6. Following vaccination, young adult women generated more robust antibody and T cell responses than both post-menopausal groups. Despite similar vaccine responses between the two post-menopausal groups, we observed a direct correlation between plasma 17β estradiol (E2) levels and fold increase in IgG titers within the ET group. These findings suggest that ET affects immune homeostasis and that higher plasma E2 levels may enhance humoral responses in post-menopausal women.


The objective of this study was to determine the effects of farm management and environmental factors on preharvest spinach contamination with generic Escherichia coli as an indicator of fecal contamination. A repeated cross-sectional study was conducted by visiting spinach farms up to four times per growing season over a period of 2 years (2010 to 2011). Spinach samples (n = 955) were collected from 12 spinach farms in Colorado and Texas as representative states of the Western and Southwestern United States, respectively. During each farm visit, farmers were surveyed about farm-related management and environmental factors using a questionnaire. Associations between the prevalence of generic E. coli in spinach and farm-related factors were assessed by using a multivariable logistic regression model including random effects for farm and farm visit. Overall, 6.6% of spinach samples were positive for generic E. coli. Significant risk factors for spinach contamination with generic E. coli were the proximity (within 10 miles) of a poultry farm, the use of pond water for irrigation, a >66-day period since the planting of spinach, farming on fields previously used for grazing, the production of hay before spinach planting, and the farm location in the Southwestern United States. Contamination with generic E. coli was significantly reduced with an irrigation lapse time of >5 days as well as by several factors related to field workers, including the use of portable toilets, training to use portable toilets, and the use of hand-washing stations. To our knowledge, this is the first report of an association between field workers' personal hygiene and produce contamination with generic E. coli at the preharvest level. Collectively, our findings support that practice of good personal hygiene and other good farm management practices may reduce produce contamination with generic E. coli at the preharvest level.


We selected a number of distant cluster candidates from ROSAT PSPC data in the SHARC survey; part of these were observed with optical and infrared imaging through various filters. Optical colours indicate that galaxies in Cl1205+44 are very red and suggest a redshift greater than 1. However, optical redshifts of galaxies obtained very recently by J. Mulchaey in this area show a concentration of galaxies around z=0.33. Our recent observations of this object with XMM-Newton and Chandra confirm the presence of a faint extended X-ray source; if the redshift is fixed to 0.33, the X-ray gas has a temperature of 2.7 keV, and a bolometric luminosity of 2.4 10**43 ergs. Cl1205+44 seems therefore to be a poor structure at redshift 0.33. Several points make it, however, remarkable. Galaxies are very red for a z=0.33 structure. There is only a very low number of galaxies in the X-ray emission area, consistently with what would happen with a poor group or a fossil group of galaxies. However, the (Lx/Tx) value for Cl1205+44 does not follow the relation for nearby groups or clusters (Jones L.R. et al. 2003), while it falls on the Lx/Tx relation for intermediate redshift (z=0.3) rich clusters (Novicki et al. 2002), without being rich enough to be such a rich structure. This possibly suggests an evolution of the Lx-Tx relation for both groups and clusters of galaxies. We present here an analysis of the main X-ray properties of Cl1205+44 and explain why this structure is possibly filling the gap between groups and clusters of galaxies.


Economic downturn, recession of plans and initiatives, systematically ignored calls for a fiscal and monetary justice for all, €-crisis, Brexit and irredentism in the UK, Spain, Belgium, France, Denmark and Italy, lasting instability in the Euro-Med theatre (debt crisis of the Europe's south – countries scrutinized and ridiculed under the nickname PIGS, coupled with the failed states all over the MENA), terrorism, historic low with Russia along with a historic trans-Atlantic blow with Trump, influx of predominantly Muslim refugees from Levant in numbers and configurations unprecedented since the WWII exoduses, consequential growth of far-right parties who – by peddling reductive messages and comparisons – are exploiting fears of otherness, that are now amplified with already urging labour and social justice concerns, generational unemployment and socio-cultural anxieties, in ricochet of the Sino-US trade wars, while rifting in a dilemma to either let Bolivarism or support Monroeism. The very fundaments of Europe are shaking. Strikingly, there is a very little public debate enhanced in Europe about it. What is even more worrying is the fact that any self-assessing questioning of Europe's involvement and past policies in the Middle East, and Europe's East is off-agenda. Immaculacy of Brussels and the Atlantic-Central Europe-led EU is unquestionable. Corresponding with realities or complying with a dogma?


Cerebrovascular deposition of amyloid beta protein (A beta) is a characteristic lesion of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and hereditary cerebral hemorrhage with amyloidosis of the Dutch type (HCHWA-D). Besides A beta, several other proteins and proteoglycans accumulate in cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA). We have now analyzed the expression of the heparan sulfate proteoglycan (HSPG) subtypes agrin, perlecan, glypican-1, syndecans 1-3 and HS glycosaminoglycan (GAG) side chains in CAA in brains of patients with AD and HCHWA-D. Hereto, specific well-characterized antibodies directed against the core protein of these HSPGs and against the GAG side chains were used for immunostaining. Glypican-1 was abundantly expressed in CAA both in AD and HCHWA-D brains, whereas perlecan and syndecans-1 and -3 were absent in both. Colocalization of agrin with vascular A beta was clearly observed in CAA in HCHWA-D brains, but only in a minority of the AD cases. Conversely, syndecan-2 was frequently associated with vascular A beta in AD, but did not colocalize with vascular A beta deposits in HCHWA-D. The three different syndecans, agrin, glypican-1 and HS GAG, but not perlecan, were associated with the majority of senile plaques (SPs) in all brains. Our results suggest a role for agrin in the formation of SPs and of CAA in HCHWA-D, but not in the pathogenesis of CAA in AD. Both syndecan-2 and glypican, but not perlecan, may be involved in the formation of CAA. We conclude that specific HSPG species may be involved in the pathogenesis of CAA in both AD and HCHWA-D, and that the pathogenesis of CAA and SPs may differ with regard to the involvement of HSPG species.


In many social science college courses, professors cover a wide variety of topics that may act as triggers for victims of trauma in both traditional and online courses. At the same time, we may also encounter students who suffer trauma during their college experience. The purpose of this paper is to emphasize the importance of creating a safe and empowering environment in college classrooms regardless of what subjects we teach. Safe environments and the relationships we build with our students play a vital role in student success by understanding the importance of being trauma-informed.


Despite economic transformations and urbanization, declining shares of the workforce employed in the agricultural sector, and gradual growth of agricultural mechanization, production costs in the agricultural sector and food prices remain high in Nigeria relative to those in some of the other developing countries. Understanding how the adoption of mechanical technologies is related to agricultural productivity is therefore important for countries like Nigeria. Using farm household data from northern Nigeria as well as various spatial agroclimatic data, this study shows that the adoption of key mechanical technologies in Nigerian agriculture (animal traction, tractors, or both) has been high in areas that are more agroclimatically similar to the locations of agricultural research and development (R&D) stations, and this effect is heterogeneous, being particularly strong among relatively larger farms. Furthermore, such effects are likely to have been driven by the rise in returns on scale in the underlying production function caused by the adoption of these mechanical technologies. Agricultural mechanization, represented here as the switch from manual labor to animal traction and tractors, has been not only raising the average return on scale but also potentially magnifying the effects of productivity-enhancing public-sector R&D on spatial variations in agricultural productivity in countries like Nigeria.


During the Paleocene–Eocene thermal maximum (PETM), low to mid-latitude planktic foraminiferal assemblages were characterized by blooms of the surface-dwelling Acarinina. Among this group a new 'excursion taxon' is identified, Acarinina multicamerata n. sp. Previously, this taxon was lumped together with Acarinina sibaiyaensis El-Naggar. Considering that A. sibaiyaensis already occurred prior to the hyperthermal event, both in open ocean and ocean margin deposits, it is proposed that these taxa are differentiated in order to avoid taxonomic and biostratigraphic ambiguities. Acarinina multicamerata n. sp. occurred exclusively during the PETM, hence this taxon represents an excellent biostrati-graphic marker of the PETM, while its common occurrence in various marine settings makes it an excellent marker of Subzone P5b or its new equivalent zone E1.


The overarching goal of this research was to describe the development of the dyadic coordination of vocalization and gaze behavior between mothers and infants over the first year of life in infants at heightened vs. low risk for autism spectrum disorder. In addition to describing developmental trajectories of behavior, the study aimed to increase our understanding of how coordination is established and develops by investigating how measures of individual vocal and gaze behavior and their coordination within and across modalities related to one another concurrently and across time, and by relating early interactive behaviors to later language development.

Thirty dyads were recorded playing together with a standard set of toys when infants were 3, 6, 9, and 12 months of age, and mother and infant vocalization and gaze behaviors were coded from these videos on a moment-to-moment basis. Coordination was analyzed using both cross-recurrence quantitative analysis and event-based measures of analysis. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to examine developmental trajectories of vocalization and gaze coordination as well as the multi-modal coordination of these two behaviors.

Results indicated that coordination of the timing of vocalization and gaze behaviors is early emerging and supported by both mother and infant behavior, but that relations between coordination across domains and ages are not straightforward. Furthermore, contrary to expectations, few risk status differences were found, and there was no evidence that early coordination predicted later language development. Taken together, these findings paint a complex picture of how dyadic gaze and vocal coordination develop. Rather than coordination emerging due to individual characteristics of mothers and infants within dyads, the data suggest that coordination emerges as a feature of the larger interaction between infant developmental ability and behavior, mother behavior, and the overarching context of the interaction. The results underscore the importance of understanding mother and infant behavior during social interactions as transactional and multi-modal, and also provide new evidence that coordination of behaviors does not develop in a simple, linear fashion, nor is it driven primarily by parent and infant traits.


Optical tracking of neurotransmitter release in the brain reveals multiple synaptic populations that depend on brain activity. Neurotransmission involves the release of small molecular neurotransmitters from one neuron to another across a synapse. Gubernator et al. introduce a means to observe neurotransmitter release optically, by the design of fluorescent false neurotransmitters, which act as substrates for the synaptic vesicle monoamine transporter. These endogenous monoamine optical tracers enabled visualization of neurotransmitter uptake and release from individual synaptic terminals and were used to evaluate dopamine neurotransmission in the striatum. The fraction of synaptic vesicles that release neurotransmitter per stimulus was frequency dependent, and a frequency-dependent selection of presynaptic terminals was observed. N. G. Gubernator, H. Zhang, R. G. W. Staal, E. V. Mosharov, D. B. Pereira, M. Yue, V. Balsanek, P. A. Vadola, B. Mukherjee, R. H. Edwards, D. Sulzer, D. Sames, Fluorescent false neurotransmitters visualize dopamine release from individual presynaptic terminals. Science 324, 1441–1444 (2009). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Cereal crops such as maize, wheat, and rice account for a majority of biomass produced globally in agriculture. Continuous economic and population growth especially in developing countries accompanied more intensive production of cereal crops to meet increasing demands for them as main staple foods and livestock feeds. However, imbalance between production and consumption of cereal crops, which is inevitably reflected as their higher market prices, is becoming palpable in recent years. Stable production of cereal crops has been threatened by various abiotic and biotic stresses. One of the most threatening constraints is virus diseases. Especially, intensification of cereal crop production is often achieved by monoculture of a popular crop variety in a wide area. Such agroecosystems with low biodiversity is usually more conducive to biotic stresses, and may result in the outbreaks of existing and emerging cereal viruses. Numerous reports on incidences of various virus diseases of cereal crops attested that viruses have been a long-standing obstacle eroding yields of cereal crops worldwide. Despite of the evident economic losses incurred by virus disease of cereal crops, the progress in basic research on virus species causing major diseases of cereal crops lagged behind compared to that carried out for viruses that can infect dicotyledonous plants. This was partially due to the lack of ideal experimental systems to investigate the interaction between viruses and monocotyledonous crops. For example, inoculation of many viruses to cereal plants still requires tedious manipulation of vector organisms, and reverse genetic systems are not available for many cereal viruses. However, application of latest molecular biology technologies has led to significant advance in cereal virology recently; transient gene expression systems through particle bombardment and agroinfiltration have been exploited to examine the functions of cereal virus proteins. Cell culture systems of vector insects enabled to investigate the molecular interactions between cereal viruses and insect vectors. Furthermore, RNAi technologies for vector insects and monocotyledonous plants facilitated identification of specific host and viral factors involved in viral replication and transmission cycles. Also, accumulating information on the genome sequences of cereal crop species has been simplifying the roadmap to pinpoint resistance genes against cereal viruses. The objective of this research topic is to provide and share the information which can contribute to advances in cereal virology by covering recent progresses in areas such as: 1) characterization of emerging viruses, 2) analyses of genetic and biological diversities within particular viruses, 3) development of experimental systems applicable to cereal viruses, 4) elucidation of the molecular interactions among viruses, vector organisms, and host plants, 5) identification of traits and genes linked to virus resistance in cereal crops, 6) development of novel genetic approaches for virus resistance, and 7) assessment of epidemiological factors affecting the incidences of cereal virus diseases. Synergistic integration of ideas from such areas under this research topic should help to formulate practical alternatives to the current management options for virus diseases in cereal crops.


We analyze two important points related to the experimental emissivity measurements in this paper: the radiometer calibration accuracy and its stability to determine the required frequency of calibration. The usual two-temperature calibration method is compared to a more accurate method, which uses the measurement of blackbody radiation at several temperatures. Additionally, the suitability of the two-temperature method is studied as a function of the gap between both temperatures. Differences higher than 200°C are needed to obtain an acceptable calibration. The temporal stability of the calibration and the influence of the environmental conditions are also analyzed.


Once older adults become less self-sufficient, one or more adult children often assume the role of family caregiver. Unfortunately, this situation is usually perceived as stressful by caregivers. To better understand this process, we interviewed intergenerational triads: older adults, their adult children acting as caregivers, and their grandchildren. The study results show that the commitment of caregivers is quite strong regardless of the place where they live. In addition, the gender of older adults and caregivers affects the dynamics and complexity of the process. Through this study we aim to identify opportunities to support family caregiving, respecting the preexisting relations, attitudes, needs, and expectations of the involved stakeholders.


Despite the vulnerability of object detectors to adversarial attacks, very few defenses are known to date. While adversarial training can improve the empirical robustness of image classifiers, a direct extension to object detection is very expensive. This work is motivated by recent progress on certified classification by randomized smoothing. We start by presenting a reduction from object detection to a regression problem. Then, to enable certified regression, where standard mean smoothing fails, we propose median smoothing, which is of independent interest. We obtain the first model-agnostic, training-free, and certified defense for object detection against $\ell_2$-bounded attacks.


People negotiate agreements "in the shadow of the law," whether in the private ordering of affairs such as drafting contracts or in the public forum of settling lawsuits.[1] A reverse phenomenon, however, has gone largely unnoticed: judges occasionally declare law in the shadow of negotiated settlements. In interpreting the terms of a consent decree[2] when the parties themselves cannot agree on what obligations such terms impose, the judge may determine that both the words and the parties' own intentions are so ambiguous that the words must be interpreted in light of the substantive law that gave rise to the plaintiffs' claim. This writer has previously contended that the meaning of an ambiguous term should be determined, in part, "by reference to the constitutional or statutory rights sought to be vindicated in the litigation." Even if the law is somewhat uncertain, part of the judge's interpretive effort should be to determine which interpretation "will best serve the policies of the relevant law."[3] It appears that the federal courts, at least, have adopted this position.[4]


The ability of paclobutrazol to ameliorate salinity stress, growth performance, photosynthetic pigment, and antioxidant efficiency was studied in indica rice cv. Pathumthani 1. Fourteen-day-old rice seedlings were pretreated with 15 mg/l paclobutrazol by foliar spray and subsequently exposed to salt stress (150 mM NaCl) for 12 days. Salt stress decreased growth characters including fresh weight, dry weight, shoot length, root length, shoot fresh weight, shoot dry weight, root fresh weight, and root dry weight. It also reduced the photosynthetic pigments chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll, and total carotenoids. In addition, salinity stress decreased the total antioxidant capacity as determined by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl, 3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid, and ferric-reducing antioxidant power assays and reduced the activities of the antioxidant enzymes, peroxidase and polyphenol oxidase, in both leaves and roots. Seedling growth retardation and pigment degradation were positively correlated with the reduction of antioxidant efficiency under salt stress. Paclobutrazol pretreatment improved growth, pigment production, and antioxidant efficiency in salt-stressed rice seedlings. These results indicate that paclobutrazol plays an important role in ameliorating the impact of salinity stress on Pathumthani 1 rice seedlings.


Adults, those over the age of eighteen, are presumed competent and therefore enjoy a certain level of autonomous decision-making free from outside intrusion. Those who have not reached the age of majority, on the other hand, are presumed incompetent, and thus require the aid of parents or guardians to assist in the decision-making process. Recent studies in adolescent development suggest that certain individuals, though not yet eighteen, have the requisite competence to make informed, autonomous medical decisions. In turn, some states have acknowledged the mature minor doctrine, which is based on the seemingly simple principle that minors who demonstrate a sufficient level of maturity ought to have their choices respected independent of third parties.Though many agree that certain adolescents reason on a level equal to that of young adults, debate surrounds the conclusion that minors should be permitted to consent to or refuse medical treatment especially when the choice has life or death consequences. A further complication exists when the decision is based upon religious beliefs. To date, the relevant literature focuses on parents' religious beliefs that influence medical decision making for their minor children, and minors' maturity to decide medical care for themselves. Although some courts and scholars have addressed these topics in the same document, little attention has been paid to the unique circumstances involved when adolescents attempt to refuse life-saving or sustaining medical treatment based upon their expressed religious beliefs. Failing to address the religious maturity of the minors in question creates the possibility that they will be permitted to die for beliefs that are not truly their own.The thesis of this paper is that under these circumstances practitioners ought to inquire into the maturity of the religious beliefs of the adolescents. Because the religious upbringing of children is directed by the beliefs of their parents and ministers, it is necessary to ensure that the adolescents have developed their own underlying and enduring aims and values. Thus, these adolescents should have the burden to demonstrate clearly and convincingly that they understand their beliefs, as well as the consequences of the medical decision. Only then can practitioners be comfortable that the minors, independent of third party influence or coercion, have the ability to make an autonomous decision to die for those beliefs in line with their true sense of well-being.


Based on field evidence from anthropological research with Traditional Health Practitioners in the Western Cape Province, this paper presents narratives that demonstrate the use of myth and camouflage in popular responses to HIV/AIDS, as experienced by Traditional Health Practitioners. The narratives are analysed from the perspective of the traditional healers in order to interrogate biomedical assumptions that traditional health practitioners are largely to blame for encouraging denial and non-disclosure, or wilfully undermining western medical efforts to deal with the epidemic. The paper explains the effects of popular explanations of HIV/AIDS on traditional health practitioners, and suggests that they do not simply endorse these accounts, but are prepared to be sceptical and to challenge them when they arise.


In this paper we analyze the optimal number and locations of fixed radio relay stations forming multi-hop links in infrastructure-based wireless networks. Under the assumptions of using orthogonal channels for the hops and all links having the same average path loss exponent, we show using the spectral efficiency as a metric that the optimal relay locations are at equal intervals along the straight line between source and destination whenever multihop is to be utilized. We show that a single-hop fixed radio link can be efficiently (from a spectral efficiency perspective) replaced with the multi-hop link only if the single-hop SNR has a relatively low value. We introduce a "multi-hop criterion" to quantify the single-hop SNR value below which a more efficient multi-hop replacement exists. We also determine the optimal number of hops for the multi-hop links having relays disposed in straight line at equal intervals


Since the mid-20th century, elite political behavior has increasingly nationalized. In Congress, for example, within-party geographic cleavages have declined, roll-call voting has become increasingly one-dimensional, and Democrats and Republicans have diverged along this main dimension of national partisan conflict. The existing literature finds that citizens have displayed only a delayed and attenuated echo of elite trends. We show, however, that a very different picture emerges if we focus not on individual citizens but on the aggregate characteristics of geographic constituencies. Using estimates of the economic, racial, and social policy liberalism of the average Democrat, Independent, and Republican in each state-year 1946–2014, we demonstrate a surprisingly close correspondence between mass and elite trends. Specifically, we find that: (1) ideological divergence between Democrats and Republicans has increased dramatically within each domain, just as it has in Congress; (2) economic, racial, and social liberalism have become highly correlated across state-party publics, just as they have across members of Congress; (3) ideological variation across state-party publics is now almost completely explained by party rather than state, closely tracking trends in the Senate; and (4) senators' liberalism is strongly predicted by the liberalism of their state-party subconstituency, even controlling for their party affiliation and their state public's overall liberalism. Taken together, this correspondence between elite and mass patterns suggests that members of Congress are actually quite in synch with their constituencies, if not with individual citizens.


In many systems, such as P2P systems, the dynamicity of participating elements, or churn, has a strong impact. As a consequence, many efforts have been made to characterize it, and in particular to capture the session length distribution. However in most cases, estimating it rigorously is difficult. One of the reasons is that, because the observation window is by definition finite, parts of the sessions that begin before the window and/or end after it are missed. This induces a bias. Although it tends to decrease when the observation window length increases, it is difficult to quantify its importance, or how fast it decreases. Here, we introduce a general methodology that allows us to know if the observation window is long enough to characterize a given property. This methodology is not specific to one study case and may be applied to any property in a dynamic system. We apply this methodology to the study of session lengths in a massive measurement of P2P activity in the eDonkey system. We show that the measurement needs to last for at least one week in order to obtain representative results. We also show that our methodology allows us to precisely characterize the shape of the session length distribution.


Directory of companies providing credit cards and related services. Links are also offered to related financial resources to assist you with the management of your finances.


Stochastic partial differential equations (SPDEs) are the mathematical tool of choice for modelling spatiotemporal PDE-dynamics under the influence of randomness. Based on the notion of mild solution of an SPDE, we introduce a novel neural architecture to learn solution operators of PDEs with (possibly stochastic) forcing from partially observed data. The proposed Neural SPDE model provides an extension to two popular classes of physics-inspired architectures. On the one hand, it extends Neural CDEs and variants -- continuous-time analogues of RNNs -- in that it is capable of processing incoming sequential information arriving at arbitrary spatial resolutions. On the other hand, it extends Neural Operators -- generalizations of neural networks to model mappings between spaces of functions -- in that it can parameterize solution operators of SPDEs depending simultaneously on the initial condition and a realization of the driving noise. By performing operations in the spectral domain, we show how a Neural SPDE can be evaluated in two ways, either by calling an ODE solver (emulating a spectral Galerkin scheme), or by solving a fixed point problem. Experiments on various semilinear SPDEs, including the stochastic Navier-Stokes equations, demonstrate how the Neural SPDE model is capable of learning complex spatiotemporal dynamics in a resolution-invariant way, with better accuracy and lighter training data requirements compared to alternative models, and up to 3 orders of magnitude faster than traditional solvers.


In 1942, Mao Zedong delivered a speech at the famous Literature and Art Forum of Yan-an, that afterwards was published as the official guidelines of the Party's policy on art and literature. Like his many contemporary enlightened thinkers, Mao Zedong also regarded art and literature as a means to saving the country. Mao agreed with Lenin's viewpoint that literature should be a part of the proletariats' enterprise, that it should form "the gears and screws" of the huge social democracy machinery run by the vanguard of the proletariat. In Mao's view, art and literature had to enlighten the masses. Mao, however, contrary to the eighteenth-century Enlightenment in France, wanted the enlightenment not of the middle classes, but of the people who formed more than ninety percent of the Chinese population, namely the workers, peasants and soldiers. In order to propagate the Party's political aims and enhance the cultural level of the people, certain domains of art, especially the visual arts, were the best means to fulfil the task. The visual arts were supposed to infiltrate the masses with political content in images people liked to look at with easily understood message. Because many of them had little or no education at all and a great many were illiterate, the works of art that were to serve the Party's purposes had to be popular, direct, easy to understand, with simple messages and easy to be copied in large numbers.
After 1949, when the new China was established, Mao's speech at the Forum became the guide for the future development of art and literature all over the country, and posters, comic strips and woodcuts came to the front, with Socialist Realism, suitable for propaganda and popularization needs, as the official theory and method of artistic and literary composition. In the art history of China, Mao's era is a typical period of duplicating and printing, so copying is the main method to spread the artist's work. Although the art of Mao's era is a kind of popular art, entangled in politics, there are still some artistic values in it which deserve to be remembered.


Adaptive modelling (AM) based Gas Path Analysis (GPA) is a powerful diagnostic and prognostic technique for turbofan engine maintenance. This involves the assessment of turbofan component condition using thermodynamic models that can iteratively adapt to measurements values in the gas path by changing component condition parameters. The problem with this approach is that newer turbofan engines such as the General Electric GEnx-1B have fewer gas path sensors installed causing the AM equation systems to become underdetermined. To overcome this problem, a novel approach has been developed that combines the AM model with an Evolutionary Algorithm (EA) optimization scheme and applies it to multiple operating points. Additionally, these newer turbofan engines provide performance data continuously during flight. Information on variable geometry and bleed valve position, active clearance control state and power off-take is included and can be accounted for to further enhance AM model accuracy. A procedure is proposed where the selection of operating points is based on steady-state stability requirements, cycle model operating point uncertainty and parameter outlier filtering. The Gas turbine Simulation Program (GSP) is used as the non-linear GPA modelling environment. A Multiple Operating Point Analysis (MOPA) is chosen to overcome the problem of underdetermination by utilizing multiple data sets at different operating points. The EA finds the best fit of health parameter deviations by minimizing the multi-point objective function using the GSP AM model. A sub-form of the EA class named Differential Evolution (DE) has been chosen as the optimizer. Like all EAs, DE is a parallel direct search method in which a population of parameter vectors evolves following genetic operations towards an optimum output candidate.
 The resulting hybrid GPA tool has been verified by solving for different simulated deterioration cases of a GSP model. The tool can identify the direction and magnitude of condition deviation of 10 health parameters using 6 gas path sensors. It has subsequently been validated using historical in-flight data of the GEnx-1B engine. It has demonstrated successful tracking of engine component condition for all 10 health parameters and identification of events such as turbine blade failure and water washes. The authors conclude that the tool has proven significant potential to enhance turbofan engine condition monitoring accuracy for minimizing maintenance costs and increasing safety and reliability.


AIM: Examination of clinical polymorphism of chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) in defects of oxalate metabolism to make diagnostic outpatient screening of the preclinical stage. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Diagnostic dysgenetic markers of respiratory oxalosis (RO)--red hair in monthers and 24-h oxaluria--were studied in 28 women and 7 men. 8 women (group 1) had diagnostic association, 7 women (group 2) had no hereditary marker, 13 women (group 3) had no signs of disturbed oxalate metabolism. In addition, families of group 1 patients were examined for preclinical signs of visceral oxalosis in close relatives (kinship degree I). A comparison was made of quantitative enzyme assay of registering 24-h oxaluria (Lartillot M. et Vogel G) and titration by G. A. Sivorinovsky. RESULTS: Group 1 COPD patients with mild disease had rather high 24-h oxaluria. In group 2 and 3 patients oxaluria was significantly lower. Dysgenetic markers--24-h oxaluria with the hereditary criterium--may be used in differential diagnosis of RO with its phenocopy having a more severe course at preclinical stage. Male relatives of kinship degree I had significant differences with group 1 patients in 24-h oxaluria, oxaluria was combined with clinical symptoms of acid, uratic diathesis. CONCLUSION: The enzyme assay of oxalate in 24-h urine in combination with hereditary marker is an adequate screening method for preclinical stage of RO. The presence of various clinical manifestations of visceral oxalosis--RO and acid, uratic diathesis in the family--may indicate clinical polymorphism of mutant gene.


This study documents previously unknown taxonomic and morphological diversity among early Palaeozoic crinoids. Based on highly complete, well preserved crown material, we describe two new genera from the Ordovician and Silurian of the Baltic region (Estonia) that provide insight into two major features of the geological history of crinoids: the early evolution of the flexible clade during the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event (GOBE), and their diversification history surrounding the end‐Ordovician mass extinction. The unexpected occurrence of a highly derived sagenocrinid, Tintinnabulicrinus estoniensis gen. et. sp. nov., from Upper Ordovician (lower Katian) rocks of the Baltic palaeocontinent provides high‐resolution temporal, taxonomic and palaeobiogeographical constraints on the origin and early evolution of the Flexibilia. The Silurian (lower Rhuddanian, Llandovery) Paerticrinus arvosus gen. et sp. nov. is the oldest known Silurian crinoid from Baltica and thus provides the earliest Baltic record of crinoids following the aftermath of the end‐Ordovician mass extinction. A Bayesian 'fossil tip‐dating' analysis implementing the fossilized birth–death process and a relaxed morphological clock model suggests that flexibles evolved c. 3 million years prior to their oldest fossil record, potentially involving an ancestor–descendant relationship (via 'budding' cladogenesis or anagenesis) with the paraphyletic cladid Cupulocrinus. The sagenocrinid subclade rapidly diverged from 'taxocrinid' grade crinoids during the final stages of the GOBE, culminating in maximal diversity among Ordovician crinoid faunas on a global scale. Remarkably, diversification patterns indicate little taxonomic turnover among flexibles across the Late Ordovician mass extinction. However, the elimination of closely related clades may have helped pave the way for their subsequent Silurian diversification and increased ecological role in post‐Ordovician Palaeozoic marine communities. This study highlights the significance of studies reporting faunas from undersampled palaeogeographical regions for clade‐based phylogenetic studies and improving estimates of global biodiversity through geological time.


Ferguson-Stegall, L, McCleave, EL, Ding, Z, Doerner III, PG, Wang, B, Liao, Y-H, Kammer, L, Liu, Y, Hwang, J, Dessard, BM, and Ivy, JL. Postexercise carbohydrate-protein supplementation improves subsequent exercise performance and intracellular signaling for protein synthesis. J Strength Cond Res 25(5): 1210-1224, 2011-Postexercise carbohydrate-protein (CHO + PRO) supplementation has been proposed to improve recovery and subsequent endurance performance compared to CHO supplementation. This study compared the effects of a CHO + PRO supplement in the form of chocolate milk (CM), isocaloric CHO, and placebo (PLA) on recovery and subsequent exercise performance. Ten cyclists performed 3 trials, cycling 1.5 hours at 70% &OV0312;o2max plus 10 minutes of intervals. They ingested supplements immediately postexercise and 2 hours into a 4-hour recovery. Biopsies were performed at recovery minutes 0, 45, and 240 (R0, R45, REnd). Postrecovery, subjects performed a 40-km time trial (TT). The TT time was faster in CM than in CHO and in PLA (79.43 ± 2.11 vs. 85.74 ± 3.44 and 86.92 ± 3.28 minutes, p ≤ 0.05). Muscle glycogen resynthesis was higher in CM and in CHO than in PLA (23.58 and 30.58 vs. 7.05 μmol·g−1 wet weight, p ≤ 0.05). The mammalian target of rapamycin phosphorylation was greater at R45 in CM than in CHO or in PLA (174.4 ± 36.3 vs. 131.3 ± 28.1 and 73.7 ± 7.8% standard, p ≤ 0.05) and at REnd in CM than in PLA (94.5 ± 9.9 vs. 69.1 ± 3.8%, p ≤ 0.05). rpS6 phosphorylation was greater in CM than in PLA at R45 (41.0 ± 8.3 vs. 15.3 ± 2.9%, p ≤ 0.05) and REnd (16.8 ± 2.8 vs. 8.4 ± 1.9%, p ≤ 0.05). FOXO3A phosphorylation was greater at R45 in CM and in CHO than in PLA (84.7 ± 6.7 and 85.4 ± 4.7 vs. 69.2 ± 5.5%, p ≤ 0.05). These results indicate that postexercise CM supplementation can improve subsequent exercise performance and provide a greater intracellular signaling stimulus for PRO synthesis compared to CHO and placebo.


Physical activity programs in school and community settings have the potential to foster positive youth development related to social and emotional learning. However, research findings and best practices that promote these outcomes are often not implemented in practice. The field of implementation science can help researchers understand and navigate the barriers to implementing what we know from research into policy and practice (i.e., to bridge the know-do gap). In this paper, after describing positive youth development, social emotional learning, and their application in physical activity settings, I share reflections from my engaged scholarship with the teaching personal and social responsibility model to illustrate ways my collaborators and I have tried to address the know-do gap. Lessons learned about ways that kinesiology researchers can actively support the implementation of our research in society are discussed.


Background : Loperamide, a peripherally acting opioid receptor agonist with a methadone-like structure and antidiarrheal action, is mainly metabolized to desmethylloperamide through N-demethylation pathway. It has been reported that CYP2C8 and CYP3A4 might play a crucial role in loperamide Ndemethylation in therapeutic concentrations and loperamide might be an inhibitor of CYP3A4. However, there has been no available data to reveal it. The inhibitory effect of loperamide on CYP3A4 using midazolam 1'-hydroxylation was evaluated in vitro by human liver microsomes. Methods : Various concentrations of loperamide or ketoconazole (a selective and potent inhibitor of CYP3A4) were co-incubated with midazolam in human liver microsomes. CYP3A4-catalyzed midazolam metabolite, 1'-hydroxymidazolam was analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to determine the inhibitory potency of loperamide on midazolam 1'-hydroxylation using IC50 (the concentration of inhibitor representing 50% inhibitory potency) and Ki (apparent inhibitory constant) values. Results : Loperamide inhibited concentration-dependently CYP3A4-catalyzed midazolam 1'-hydroxylation with apparent IC50 values of 0.78 μM in human liver microsomes. Graphical analysis showed that loperamide had a potent inhibitory effect on midazolam 1'-hydroxylation with a Ki value of 0.54 μM in a competitive manner. Conclusions : Loperamide had a potent inhibitory effect on CYP3A4-catalyzed midazolam 1'-hydroxylation in human liver microsomes. However the predicted inhibition of loperamide within therapeutic ranges on the metabolism 1'-hydroxylation showed the low possibility of in vivo drug interaction of loperamide with the drug metabolized by CYP3A4.


As to the classroom teaching of advanced mathematics, the establishment of mathematical models and application of teaching cases have a positive effect to stimulate student interest in classroom learning, while laying the foundation for appropriate linkages between disciplines. This paper made the further planning on teaching ideas of advanced mathematics "model" by the application of mathematical models, while giving more precise finishing to the principle of application. The teaching concept of advanced mathematics in traditional college can be a positive change, while the application of mathematical models of "effectiveness" has further excavation, thus changing the education thought in traditional university, which can provide practical and necessary foundation for the reform and development of advanced mathematics.


The primary objective of this paper is to produce a framework that could be used to construct a historical data base of zero-coupon and forward yield curves estimated from Government of Canada securities' prices. The secondary objective is to better understand the behaviour of a class of parametric yield curve models, specifically, the Nelson-Siegel and the Svensson methodologies. These models specify a functional form for the instantaneous forward interest rate, and the user must determine the function parameters that are consistent with market prices for government debt. The results of these models are compared with those of a yield curve model used by the Bank of Canada for the last 15 years. The Bank of Canada's existing model, based on an approach developed by Bell Canada, fits a so-called "par yield" curve to bond yields to maturity and subsequently extracts zero-coupon and "implied forward" rates. Given the pragmatic objectives of this research, the analysis focuses on the practical and deals with two key problems: the estimation problem (the choice of the best yield curve model and the optimization of its parameters); and the data problem (the selection of the appropriate set of market data). In the absence of a developed literature dealing with the practical side of parametric term structure estimation, this paper provides some guidance for those wishing to use parametric models under "real world" constraints. In the analysis of the estimation problem, the data filtering criteria are held constant (this is the "benchmark" case). Three separate models, two alternative specifications of the objective function, and two global search algorithms are examined. Each of these nine alternatives is summarized in terms of goodness of fit, speed of estimation, and robustness of the results. The best alternative is the Svensson model using a price-error-based, log-likelihood objective function and a global search algorithm that estimates subsets of parameters in stages. This estimation approach is used to consider the data problem. The authors look at a number of alternative data filtering settings, which include a more severe or "tight" setting and an examination of the use of bonds and/or treasury bills to model the short-end of the term structure. Once again, the goodness of fit, robustness, and speed of estimation are used to compare these different filtering possibilities. In the final analysis, it is decided that the benchmark filtering setting offers the most balanced approach to the selection of data for the estimation of the term structure. This work improves the understanding of this class of parametric models and will be used for the development of a historical data base of estimated term structures. In particular, a number of concerns about these models have been resolved by this analysis. For example, the authors believe that the log-likelihood specification of the objective function is an efficient approach to solving the estimation problem. In addition, the benchmark data filtering case performs well relative to other possible filtering scenarios. Indeed, this parametric class of models appears to be less sensitive to the data filtering than initially believed. However, some questions remain; specifically, the estimation algorithms could be improved. The authors are concerned that they do not consider enough of the domain of the objective function to determine the optimal set of starting parameters. Finally, although it was decided to employ the Svensson model, there are other functional forms that could be more stable or better describe the underlying data. These two remaining questions suggest that there are certainly more research issues to be explored in this area.


Professor Thomas Merrill has argued that Supreme Court Justices' propensity to engage in cooperative behavior may stem from the stability or volatility of the Court's personnel. When the Court's membership is in flux, he asserts, the Justices tend to behave like players in a one-shot or short-term game. Multiple coalitions flourish, but none dominates and all tend to hedge their doctrinal bets against imminent changes in the Court's personnel. By contrast, when the same nine Justices convene across multiple Terms, the Court tends to reflect the strategy of a repeat game. Dominant coalitions, few in number and stable in composition, feel much freer to fashion doctrinal innovations. This article subjects Professor Merrill's cooperative behavior hypothesis to a variety of empirical tests. To determine whether long periods of stability in Supreme Court personnel correspond with bold doctrinal development, this article applies three separate tests of legal innovation: (1) the propensity of a Court to render influential decisions during particular Terms, (2) the influence of a Term's work as a whole based on subsequent citations, and (3) the number of overruling decisions rendered during any given Term. These admittedly imperfect tests provide little support for Professor Merrill's hypothesis. If anything, both citations and overrulings suggest that the arrival of new Justices tends to spur rather than retard doctrinal movement. To the extent that stable membership does enhance the Supreme Court's marginal propensity to cut new doctrinal ground, that tendency apparently imparts less influence than other factors. A preliminary look at the historical record suggests that judicial behavior, like all other complex phenomena, depends on numerous variables whose interdependence eludes easy detection.


Carmen Miranda (b. 1909–d. 1955) was a Brazilian singer and actress who made her debut on the radio in the late 1920s and soon became one of the most popular voices in Brazil. She recorded close to 250 singles, many of which were major hits, starred in five films (four with the Cinédia studio and one with Sonofilms), and gave innumerous performances on the most elite stages of Rio de Janeiro, such as the Urca and Copacabana casinos. Her signature look was a stylized version of the typical Bahian woman's outfit, known as the baiana, complete with an abundance of bracelets and necklaces, platform shoes, and a whimsical turban that served as a base for all kinds of adornments. In 1939, she was invited by the Broadway impresario Lee Shubert to perform in his musical review The Streets of Paris and moved to New York with her band Bando da Lua to bring authentic Brazilian music to North America. A success overnight, Miranda would then be invited to star in her first US film, Down Argentine Way (1940), with 20th Century Fox, and would be cast in thirteen subsequent films. Carmen Miranda's iconic look was immediately recognizable and became prime material for imitations by both male and female impersonators in theater, film, and cartoon media. Her excessive femininity, imbued with style, exaggeration, and playful deception, and her inclusion in musicals governed by theatricality and artifice, made her a productive site for camp interpretations that have remained in vogue to this day.


This research was undertaken to inform an e-learning strategy being implemented in a large financial services organisation. The organisation used traditional teaching methods and was about to implement an e-learning strategy. The author of this document was charged with implementing the e-learning infrastructure and methodology for the business. To understand the contribution of e-learning the research conducted in this document was undertaken. The
research focussed on examining the question 'Does e-learning deliver better results than traditional classroom training?' To establish the facts a short training programme was delivered in (a) traditional classroom style (b) through a blended learning approach and (c) through independent e-learning so that the methods could be compared and contrasted in terms of performance both from a participant and organisational perspective. Employees were invited to volunteer to participate in the study. As the organisation has 40 branch outlets it was decided to divide participants into three groups of 12. One group undertook traditional classroom training. A second group undertook a classroom event combined with e-learning event in head office. A third group undertook took the e-learning course independently at their branch office or at location of their choice. Performance outcomes were assessed on two levels. The first level was participant satisfaction. The second level was the results achieved through an assessment. The blended learning approach yielded higher levels of participant satisfaction and indeed higher levels of performance through the assessment conducted than traditional classroom training alone or through the independent e-learning approach. These conclusions have been taken on board by the business and incorporated into the learning and development strategy.


The highway departments of states which use integral abutments in bridge design were contacted in order to study the extent of integral abutment use in skewed bridges and to survey the different guidelines used for analysis and design of integral abutments in skewed bridges. The variation in design assumptions and pile orientations among the various states in their approach to the use of integral abutments on skewed bridges is discussed. The problems associated with the treatment of the approach slab, backfill, and pile cap, and the reason for using different pile orientations are summarized in the report. An algorithm based on a state-of-the-art nonlinear finite element procedure previously developed by the authors was modified and used to study the influence of different factors on behavior of piles in integral abutment bridges. An idealized integral abutment was introduced by assuming that the pile is rigidly cast into the pile cap and that the approach slab offers no resistance to lateral thermal expansion. Passive soil and shear resistance of the cap are neglected in design. A 40-foot H pile (HP 10 x 42) in six typical Iowa soils was analyzed for fully restrained pile head and pinned pile head. According to numerical results, the maximum safe length for fully restrained pile head is one-half the maximum safe length for pinned pile head. If the pile head is partially restrained, the maximum safe length will lie between the two limits. The numerical results from an investigation of the effect of predrilled oversized holes indicate that if the length of the pre-drilled oversized hole is at least 4 feet below the ground, the vertical loadcarrying capacity of the H pile is only reduced by 10 percent for 4 inches of lateral displacement in very stiff clay. With no predrilled oversized hole, the pile failed before the 4-inch lateral displacement was reached. Thus, the maximum safe lengths for integral abutment bridges may be increased by predrilling. Four different typical Iowa layered soils were selected and used in this investigation. In certain situations, compacted soil (>50 blow count in standard penetration tests) is used as fill on top of natural soil. The numerical results showed that the critical conditions will depend on the length of the compacted soil. If the length of the compacted soil exceeds 4 feet, the failure mechanism for the pile is similar to one in a layer of very stiff clay. That is, the vertical load-carrying capacity of the H pile will be greatly reduced as the specified lateral displacement increases.


In this thesis, I will discuss the Anstotelian concepts of actuality and potentiality in
combination with the Cartesian method. On the one hand this will be done as an attempt to
balance the traditional English language interpretation of the relationship between Anstotelian
and Cartesian philosophy, which tends to characterise them as fundamentally opposed. On
the other hand, it will be done in order to generate legitimate unexplored conceptual
frameworks for viewing the work of both philosophers. There is an assumption central to the
greater part of English language scholarship on Descartes, attaining almost the status of self evidence,
that within the philosophical canon, the appearance of the Cartesian method marks a
definitive break between the ancient and the modern. Descartes signal achievement, on this
assumption, was that he found a way once and for all, to break philosophy free from the
shackles of Aristotelian thought. Such an idea is based upon the notion that, after Aristotle
and prior to Descartes, philosophy consisted of little more than the endless repetition, or
subtle modification of a hybrid Christian/ Anstotelian doctrine. The subsequent trajectory of
English language philosophy appears to attest to the validity of such a view, and its apparent
self-evidence from the perspective of this tradition serves to cover over other legitimate
approaches to interpretation and use of Aristotelian and Cartesian concepts. In this thesis,
rather than performing a comparison of the philosophy of Aristotle and Descartes, the
Aristotelian concepts of actuality and potentiality and the Cartesian method will be considered
ID light of a smgle task, namely, an attempt to theorise transformations in fundamental
structures of knowledge. This will be accomplished by identifying latent possibilities suitable
for such a task within Aristotelian and Cartesian conceptual structures, and extending them
accordingly. As such, this thesis must be understood as a speculative work rather than as a
work in history of philosophy.
Aristotle demonstrates the meaning and function of the concepts of actuality and potentiality
by way of analogy. This form of demonstration leaves the meaning of actuality and
potentiality open to further extension by analogy. As such, the concepts of actuality and
potentiality can be extended to cases not originally brought under these concepts by Aristotle.
In this thesis the concepts of actuality and potentiality will be extended, according to the
structure of the analogy by which Aristotle originally defines them, to an explanation of
transformation in structures of knowledge. At the same time, the Cartesian method will be
interpreted as a detailed account of a particular transformation from one structure of
knowledge to another. Whilst Descartes characterises his own project in terms of the
attainment of certainty, I intend to show that Descartes' stated intention in the creation of his
method is less significant in terms of his overall system that the transformation that this intent
brings about.


Galicia was created at the first partition of Poland in 1772 and disappeared in 1918. Yet, in slightly over a century, the idea of Galicia came to have meaning for both the peoples who lived there and the Habsburg government that ruled it. Indeed, its memory continues to exercise a powerful fascination for those who live in its former territories and for the descendants of those who emigrated out of Galicia. The idea of Galicia was largely produced by the cultures of two cities, Lviv and Cracow. Making use of travelers' accounts, newspaper reports, and literary works, Wolff engages such figures as Emperor Joseph II, Metternich, Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, Ivan Franko, Stanislaw Wyspianski, Tadeusz "Boy" Zelenski, Isaac Babel, Martin Buber, and Bruno Schulz. He shows the exceptional importance of provincial space as a site for the evolution of cultural meanings and identities, and analyzes the province as the framework for non-national and multi-national understandings of empire in European history.


The participle ghaţita (from the root ghaţ) has a wide range of meanings, but is quite restricted when applied to windows in a house or palace. Our purpose here is to clarify this specific usage by reference to texts and archaeological remains. As such, this note elucidates the cultural milieu of the term.


This poster was presented at the Global Social Justice Summer Research Symposium on September 21, 2018. At the Symposium, research was presented by the Education & Social Justice Summer Research Fellows, the David F. Andretta Summer Research Fellow, a Raines Fellow, Fulbright fellows, and more.


Throwing the Baby Out with the Bathwater: When Can We Trust Self-Report Outcome Assessment from Inpatient SMI? Jeffrey A. Lee Department of Psychology Doctor of Philosophy Reliability of self-report outcome assessment is often called into question with the severely mentally ill population. In the context of inpatient care, demand characteristics may further complicate self-report measures. Although clinician-completed outcome measures, such as the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale-Expanded Version (BPRS-E), have become industry standard with this population, self-report assessment may be useful under certain conditions. This study sought to explore the relationship between a clinician-completed, the BPRS-E, and a self-completed measure, the SOQ, within the SMI inpatient population. A total of 357 adult participants with a minimum of three assessment iterations were analyzed. The results of the analysis indicated both measures correlated at all assessment iterations (admission, 90-, 180-, 270-, 360+ days), but when divided into SOQ admission clinical and subclinical groups only the clinical group maintained the correlation at all points. A logistical regression analysis indicated that membership in the subclinical group can be predicted by one subscale (Mood Disturbance) and three items (Hallucinations, Uncooperativeness, and Conceptual Disorganization) from the BPRS-E. The change trajectories of both measures were essentially identical; however, when divided into SOQ admission clinical and subclinical scores the SOQ and BPRS-E change trajectories were significantly different from each other and clinical versus subclinical on the same measure were significantly different. Further examination of the subclinical SOQ group revealed two distinct groups, scores that eventually had reliable change and exceeded the cutoff score and those that never did. A logistical regression analyses revealed that membership in these two groups can be reliably predicted by two BPRS-E items (Somatic Concerns and Suspiciousness), in that as each item increases the likelihood of membership in the group that never exceeds the cutoff score also increases. These results suggest that although the SMI inpatient population present with profound limitations, it may be possible to predict those who will eventually provide reliable self-report outcome assessments and those who will not. Although further research is necessary, these results are promising and may provide decision points for clinicians on when and when not to trust self-report outcome assessment with the SMI inpatient population.


This paper address the question of how indigenous art and performance culture(s) can contribute to institutionalized language revitalization efforts in Canada, through their use of threatened indigenous languages. Drawing from a wide range of sources published between 1988 and 2014 by scholars, the Assembly of First Nations, departments and agencies of the Canadian government, and artistic practitioners, I illustrate the absence of performance from the available literature on language revitalization. By analyzing these documents thematically, I argue that a substantial shift occurred in the public discourse surrounding language revitalization between the 1980s and 1990s, and the mid- to late-2000s. Whereas scholarship and policy proposals published during the 1980s and 1990s were strongly influenced by Joshua Fishman's research on language revitalization, public discourse a decade later framed language revitalization in the language of land claims. Following Glen Coulthard, I suggest that this shift should be understood as part of the broader emergence of a "politics of recognition" in Canadian discourse. At the level of Canadian and Aboriginal government policy, this discursive shift has left even less room for performance and theatre within the wider project of language revitalization. Insofar as the arts are a rich source of pedagogical material, my aim is to undermine the discursive impediments to their use by language educators and policy makers in the field of language revitalization.


In the military, typical mission execution goes through cycles of intelligence collection and action planning phases. For complex operations where many parameters affect the outcomes of the mission, several steps may be taken for intelligence collection before the optimal Course of Action is actually carried out. Human analytics suggests the steps of: (1) anticipating plausible futures, (2) determining information requirements, and (3) optimize the choice of feasible and cost-effective intelligence requirements. This work formalizes this process by developing a decision support tool to determine information requirements needed to differentiate critical plausible futures, and formulating a mixed integer programming problem to trade-off the feasibility and benefits of intelligence collection requirements. Course of Action planning has been widely studied in the military domain, but mostly in an abstract fashion. Intelligence collection, while intuitively aiming at reducing uncertainties, should ultimately produce optimal outcomes for mission success. Building on previous efforts, this work studies the effect of plausible futures estimated based on current adversary activities. A set of differentiating event attributes are derived for each set of high impact futures, forming a candidate collection requirement action. The candidate collection requirement actions are then used as inputs to a MIP formulation, which optimizes the plausible future mission state subject to timing and cost constraints. The plausible future mission state is estimated by assuming that the CRAs can potentially avert the damages adversary future activities might cause. A case study was performed to demonstrate several use cases for the overall framework.


This paper analyzes empirical market utility functions and pricing kernels derived from the DAX and DAX option data for three market regimes. A consistent parametric framework of stochastic volatility is used. All empirical market utility functions show a region of risk proclivity that is reproduced by adopting the hypothesis of heterogeneous individual investors whose utility functions have a switching point between bullish and bearish attitudes. The inverse problem of finding the distribution of individual switching points is formulated in the space of stock returns by discretization as a quadratic optimization problem. The resulting distributions vary over time and correspond to different market regimes.


In order to understand the formation and evolution of Magellanic-type dwarf irregular (dIm) galaxies, one needs to understand their three-dimensional structure. We present measurements of the stellar velocity dispersion in NGC 1569, a nearby post-starburst dIm galaxy. The stellar vertical velocity dispersion, σz, coupled with the maximum rotational velocity derived from H i observations, Vmax, gives a measure of how kinematically hot the galaxy is, and, therefore, indicates its structure. We conclude that the stars in NGC 1569 are in a thick disk with a Vmax/σz = 2.4 ± 0.7. In addition to the structure, we analyze the ionized gas kinematics from O iii observations along the morphological major axis. These data show evidence for outflow from the inner starburst region and a potential expanding shell near supermassive star cluster (SSC) A. When compared to the stellar kinematics, the velocity dispersion of the stars increases in the region of SSC A supporting the hypothesis of an expanding shell. The stellar kinematics closely follow the motion of the gas. Analysis of high-resolution H i data clearly reveals the presence of an H i cloud that appears to be impacting the eastern edge of NGC 1569. Also, an ultra-dense H i cloud can be seen extending to the west of the impacting H i cloud. This dense cloud is likely the remains of a dense H i bridge that extended through what is now the central starburst area. The impacting H i cloud was the catalyst for the starburst, thus turning the dense gas into stars over a short timescale, ∼1 Gyr. We performed a careful study of the spectral energy distribution using infrared, optical, and ultraviolet photometry, producing a state-of-the-art mass model for the stellar disk. This mass modeling shows that stars dominate the gravitational potential in the inner 1 kpc. The dynamical mass of NGC 1569, derived from Vmax, shows that the disk may be dark matter deficient in the inner region, although, when compared to the expected virial mass determined from halo abundance matching techniques, the dark matter profile seems to agree with the observed mass profile at a radius of 2.2 kpc.


Although quite popular for the protection for ad-hoc networks (MANETs, IoT, VANETs, etc.), detection & mitigation techniques only function after the attack has commenced. Prevention, however, attempts at thwarting an attack before it is executed. Both techniques can be realized either by the collective collaboration of network nodes (i.e., adding security messages to protocols) or by internal deduction of attack state. In this paper, we propose a method for minimizing the gray-hole DoS attack. Our solution assumes no explicit node collaboration, with each node using only internal knowledge gained by routine routing information. The technique was evaluated using five different threat models (different attacker capabilities), allowing for a better understanding of the attack surface and its prevention. Our simulation results show a decrease of up to 51 percent in previously dropped packet, greatly minimizing gray-hole attack effectiveness.