A new class of photonic channelized radio-frequency (RF) receiver is proposed and demonstrated. The new device relies on generation of high fidelity signal copies by wavelength multicasting in a self-seeded, two-pump parametric mixer. Signal copying to widely spaced wavelengths enables channelization of the full RF bandwidth using a single periodic filter. The channelization uses freely tunable frequencies of newly generated copies and eliminates the need for construction of a dense, narrowband filter bank. The new concept is demonstrated by channelization of four subcarrier channels with 1-GHz spacing and greater than 20-dB extinction ratio between extracted channels.


This paper details models and algorithms which can be applied to evacuation problems. While it concentrates on building evacuation many of the results are applicable also to regional evacuation. All models consider the time as main parameter, where the travel time between components of the building is part of the input and the overall evacuation time is the output. The paper distinguishes between macroscopic and microscopic evacuation models both of which are able to capture the evacuees' movement over time. Macroscopic models are mainly used to produce good lower bounds for the evacuation time and do not consider any individual behavior during the emergency situation. These bounds can be used to analyze existing buildings or help in the design phase of planning a building. Macroscopic approaches which are based on dynamic network ow models (minimum cost dynamic ow, maximum dynamic ow, universal maximum ow, quickest path and quickest ow) are described. A special feature of the presented approach is the fact, that travel times of evacuees are not restricted to be constant, but may be density dependent. Using multicriteria optimization priority regions and blockage due to re or smoke may be considered. It is shown how the modelling can be done using time parameter either as discrete or continuous parameter. Microscopic models are able to model the individual evacuee's characteristics and the interaction among evacuees which in uence their movement. Due to the corresponding huge amount of data one uses simulation approaches. Some probabilistic laws for individual evacuee's movement are presented. Moreover ideas to model the evacuee's movement using cellular automata (CA) and resulting software are presented. In this paper we will focuss on macroscopic models and only summarize some of the results of the microscopic approach. While most of the results are applicable to general evacuation situations, we concentrate on building evacuation.


The role of cities in our federalist system is once again in the news. President Donald Trump's executive order purporting to cut federal funding for "sanctuary cities" made headlines across the country. However, this federal–municipal showdown is part of a much larger story about the changing regulatory role of cities. Even as cities cast themselves as defiant against conservative federal policies, many are finding themselves in a much weaker position with respect to state policymaking.
Already, state legislators across the country are introducing bills that would cut state funding to local governments implementing "sanctuary city" policies. Such efforts are among the many preemption bills pending in statehouses across the country. Local governments, as creatures of state law, are required to conform to state law, and legislatures have used this power to block municipal regulatory policies.
Scholars have noted this uptick in preemption efforts and discussed the effect of particular preemption policies. This Article addresses an important and emerging trend in intrastate preemption. This new brand of preemption statutes seeks not just to curtail specific local policies but, rather, to chill local policymaking. These punitive statutes punish local governments or their public officials for taking policy positions and deny them access to the typical legal processes for determining the legality of local ordinances.
In this Article, I identify this phenomenon as "hyper preemption" and describe its various incarnations. I argue that these hyper preemption statutes are different than traditional preemption statutes, which focus on asserting state control over specific policy areas and often involve specifically local regulatory efforts. I then discuss legal and institutional limits on this hyper preemption model.


The concept of transferring genes to tissues for clinical applications has been discussed for nearly half a century, but our ability to manipulate genetic material via recombinant DNA technology has brought this goal to reality. While originally conceived as a way to treat life-threatening disorders (inborn errors, cancers) refractory to conventional treatment, gene therapy now is considered for many non–life-threatening conditions, including those adversely affecting a patient's quality of life. The lack of suitable treatment has become a rational basis for extending the scope of gene therapy. This manuscript reviews the general methods by which genes are transferred as well as diverse examples of clinical applications (acquired tissue damage, upper gastrointestinal tract infection, autoimmune disease, systemic protein deficiency). Despite some well-publicized problems, gene therapy has made substantive progress, including tangible success, albeit much slower than was initially predicted. Although gene therapy is still at a fairly primitive stage, it is firmly science based. There is justifiable optimism that with increased pathobiological understanding and biotechnological improvements, gene therapy will become a standard part of clinical practice within 20 years.


(17/04/2019)  Descriptor Based Classification of Shapes in Terms of Style and Function It seems that great shifts in how human beings use technology often create a push for changes to the way we divide work between human beings and technology. Chemical film has all but disappeared and almost everybody takes digital photos which they proceed to put online for easy sharing with friends and family. Together with a number of other trends which have contributed to the vast amount of online and locally stored digital photos, this has made automatic recognition of people in images an important research topic in spite of the fact that recognition is one of the tasks generally left to human beings, since we excel at recognition. We believe that recognition of the style of a 3D object is something that is also likely to be increasingly useful in the foreseeable future. Optical scanning methodologies make the generation of 3D content more feasible than previously, and it is easy to envision digital artists wanting to compile content for a 3D scene or composite object being in need of a method for searching for an object not just of a specific function but also a specific style. The scope broadens further if we look beyond man made objects. It seems clear that, say, the various limbs of a specific human being have some commonality that separate them from those of another person. Thus, one could argue that an individual represents a style. Style in the context of biological variation is something that we explore in the work presented here. Specifically, we investigate whether we can define a style class for the teeth of a person. Unfortunately, style is subtle and we do not hope to be able to automatically extract a description of style from 3D objects. Furthermore, we avoid using explicit ways of describing style. Recognizing the style of an object based on some textual or otherwise encoded information might be a feasible approach in some cases such as, for instance, recognizing to which order a given classical greek column belongs. But, relying on explicit information about a given style would require us either to solve the above problem of automatically extracting style information from shapes or to rely on human beings to encode style a task that we believe would be both tedious and difficult. Instead, we rely on examples in the work presented here. This requires that we have example (training) objects for each style. It also requires that we have an orthogonal class of functions, since, as we discuss below, the function of the object (what it is) clearly also has a profound impact on shape. Thus, our work can be summed up as example based classification of digital 3D shapes in both style and function categories.


The Compact Oxford Spanish Dictionary offers over 90,000 words and phrases, and 120,000 translations of contemporary Spanish and English. It covers all the words you need for everday use, carefully selected from evidence from the Oxford Languages Tracker and the Oxford English Corpus. Also includes Spanish-speaking and English-speaking culture and grammar supplements.


To implement the condenser water set point optimization, one can employ a regression model. However, existing regression-based methods have difficulties to handle non-linear chiller plant behaviour. To address this problem, we develop a Bayesian network model and compare it to both a linear and a polynomial regression model via a case study. The results show that the Bayesian network model can predict the optimal condenser water set points with a lower root mean square deviation for both a mild month and a summer month than the linear and the polynomial models. The energy-saving ratios by the Bayesian network model are 25.92% and 1.39% for the mild month and the summer month, respectively. As a comparison, the energy-saving ratios by the linear and the polynomial models are less than 19.00% for the mild month and even lead to more energy consumption in the summer month (up to 3.73%).


New production in the United States, due to a significant increase in unconventional oil reserves that were not exploited until recently, is changing the outlook for the international oil market. The size of these reserves and the speed of response in their development by numerous competing private producers have brought about a new operational model for the global market, in which the price of crude is determined by the marginal cost of production from these unconventional reserves in the United States. The new model replaces its predecessor, in effect since the mid-1970s, in which the oligopoly consisting of OPEC countries adjusted their output against the level of demand to secure monopoly gains. In the new model, U.S. oil output will increase until it fills the demand gap that OPEC production has been unable to meet, creating an unprecedented level of competition in the global oil market. The lifting of restrictions on its oil export further bolts the U.S. presence. In the new model, the profits of OPEC countries will be reduced to the difference between their cost of production and the marginal cost of U.S. production. This paper illustrates the new outlook and operational model of the global oil market.


To estimate arterial travel time/delay, the key element is to estimate intersection queue length, since travel time, delay, and level of services can be easily derived from queue length information. In this study, the authors developed a new traffic flow model, named shockwave profile model (SPM), to describe queuing dynamics for congested arterial networks. Taking advantage of the fact that traffic states within a congested link can be simplified as free-flow, saturated, and jammed conditions, the SPM simulates traffic dynamics by analytically deriving the trajectories of four major shockwaves. This model is particularly suitable for simulating congested traffic especially with queue spillover. In the SPM, a novel approach is proposed as part of the SPM, in which queue spillover is treated as either extending a red phase or creating new cycles. Since only the essential features, i.e. queue build-up and dissipation, are considered, the SPM significantly reduces the computational load and improves the numerical efficiency. The authors further validated the SPM using real-world traffic signal data collected from a major arterial in the Twin Cities. The results clearly demonstrate its effectiveness and accuracy. This model can be applied to estimate arterial travel time and delay and optimize signal timing in real time.


Abstract Young people who transition from youth detention to the community may encounter difficulties related to their family relationships, mental and physical wellbeing, education, and employment. How to best to support young people once they leave youth detention has been left relatively unexplored—particularly in regard to the way that young people are approached and assisted to access support. This paper reports on an 18-month qualitative study carried out in Canberra, Australia, with a group of young people who had been in juvenile detention. Hearing from young people directly, the paper reports on what these young people said they needed to make positive changes and effectively transition back into the outside world. The young people who participated in this study recognised that they require assistance to sustain and develop relationships; to maintain links with critical institutions such as work, school, and informal support; to resolve the effects of detention; and to access support to live successfully in the community. Hearing from young people directly is an essential component of designing and implementing more effective responses to young people leaving youth detention.


During every summer Olympic Games, the sport of gymnastics rises briefly to the world's attention as the public admire the incredible skills and feats performed by fit muscular bodies on a range of apparatus. The gymnastics they watch consists of performances in which bodies assemble with apparatus. This thesis utilises an Actor Network Theory (ANT) perspective to follow this assembling of gymnastics in the five codes of competitive gymnastics competed in New Zealand: women's artistic gymnastics, men's artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, trampolining and competitive aerobics. This thesis is a descriptive ethnography of the world of high performance gymnastics. It begins by examining some of the controversies that have operated to both criticise and rework the sport. Next, the gymnasts are followed through the selection processes that lead them to become members of national squads and teams. It then moves to the training gymnasium and examines the variety of non-human actants that work in the gymnasium to assemble gymnastics. The next two chapters examine how gymnasts are found to enrol and assemble with video technologies and sports science professionals in their efforts to improve performance. Following this, gymnasts are observed to produce a routine at a competition which is translated into a score and ranking through the highly complicated and laborious process of judging. Finally, the thesis concludes with the story of Angela McMillan, New Zealand's most successful athlete within the gymnastic codes. Throughout are a range of accounts from participants, together with observations, describing attempts to secure the stabilisation of gymnastics as an actor-network that produces internationally successful athletes. All the networks followed involve a continual process of enrolling, un-enrolling, translating and mediating, with power constantly shifting and being shared between various heterogeneous actants including coaches, parents, the national federation and the international federation. At times these networks stabilise with particular actants, such as sports scientists or technologies, being enrolled, while at other times the paths of the networks come to an end as particular assemblages or actants, such as physical ability tests, are no longer enrolled. In contrast to a perception that successful high performance sports include key actors and resources, this thesis shows how the networks that produce high performance gymnasts are highly unpredictable and messy, with humans and non-humans both equally influential in affecting every branch of the networks. Processes such as talent identification, training and judging are found to be complicated and unstable.


To improve engine operational performance and reliability, this study focuses on the investigation into the behaviour of tribological conjunction between the ring - liner based on a comprehensive analysis of non-intrusive acoustic emission (AE) measurement. Particularly, the study will provide more knowledge of using AE for online monitoring and diagnosing the performances of the conjunction.

To fulfil this study, it integrates analytical predictions of the theoretical modelling for the AE generation mechanism with extensive experimental evaluations. Moreover, effective signal processing techniques are implemented with a combination of the model based AE predictions to extract the weak and nonstationary AE contents that correlate more with the tribological behaviour.

Based on conventional tribological models, tribological AE is modelled to be due to two main dynamic effects: asperity-asperity collision (AAC) and fluid-asperity interaction (FAI), which allows measured AE signals from the tribological conjunction to be explained under different scenarios, especially under abnormal behaviours. FAI induced AE is more correlated with lubricants and velocity. It presents mainly in the middle of engine strokes but is much weaker and severely interfered with AEs from not only valve landings, combustion and fuel injection shocks but also the effect of considerable AACs due to direct contacts and solid particles in oils.

To extract weak AEs for accurately diagnosing the tribological behaviours, wavelet transform analysis is applied to AE signals with three novel schemes: 1) hard threshold based wavelet coefficients selection in which the threshold value and wavelet analysis parameters are determined using a modified velocity of piston motion which has high dependence on the AE characteristics predicted by the two models; 2) Adaptive threshold wavelet coefficients selection in which the threshold is gradually updated to minimise the distance between the AE envelopes and the predicted dependence; and 3) wavelet packet transform (WPT) analysis is carried out by an optimised Daubechies wavelet through a novel approach based on minimising the time and frequency overlaps in WPT spectrum. Based on these optimal analyses, the local envelope amplitude (LEA) and the average residual wavelet coefficient (ARWC) are developed from AE signals as novel indicators to reflect the tribological behaviours.

Both the hard threshold based LEA and wavelet packet transform LEA values allow two different new lubricants to be diagnosed in accordance with model predictions whereas they produce less consistent results in differentiating the used oil under several operating conditions. Nevertheless, ARWC can separate the used oil successfully in that it can highlight the AAC effects of particle collisions in used oils.

Similarly, LEA shows little impacts of two alternative fuels on the tribological behaviours. However, ARWC shows significantly higher amplitudes in several operating conditions when more particles can be produced due to unstable and incomplete combustions of both the biodiesel and FT diesel, compared with pure diesel, indicating they can cause light wear.


This Phd thesis was entirely developed at the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG, Roque de los Muchachos, La Palma Canary Islands) with the aim of designing, developing and implementing a new Graphical User Interface (GUI) for the Near Infrared Camera Spectrometer (NICS) installed on the Nasmyth A of the telescope.
The idea of a new GUI for NICS has risen for optimizing the astronomers work through a set of powerful tools not present in the existing GUI, such as the possibility to move automatically, an object on the slit or do a very preliminary images analysis and spectra extraction. The new GUI also provides a wide and versatile image display, an automatic procedure to find out the astronomical objects and a facility for the automatic image crosstalk correction.
In order to test the overall correct functioning of the new GUI for NICS, and providing some information on the atmospheric extinction at the TNG site, two telluric standard stars have been spectroscopically observed within some engineering time, namely Hip031303 and Hip031567. The used NICS set-up is as follows: Large Field (0.25'' /pixel) mode, 0.5'' slit and spectral dispersion through the AMICI prism (R~100), and the higher resolution (R~1000) JH and HK grisms.


In this paper, an analytic model is proposed for the performance evaluation of vehicular safety related services in the dedicated short range communications (DSRC) system on highways. The generation and service of safety messages in each vehicle is modeled by an M/G/1 queue. A semi-Markov process (SMP) model is developed to capture contention and backoff behavior in IEEE 802.11 broadcast ad hoc networks. Furthermore, this SMP interacts with the M/G/1 queue through fixed point iteration. Based on the fixed-point solution, performance indices including transmission delay and packet delivery ratio (PDR) are derived. Hidden terminal problem is taken into account for the PDR computation. Analytic-numeric results are verified through extensive simulations under various network parameters. Compared with the existing models, the proposed model is more general and accurate. Keywords-analytic model; DSRC; performance evaluation; safety message; SMP model; VANET.


The Author analyses the meeting points between the Jewish traditions and Origen's commentaries to the Canticle of Canticles, the Homilies and the Commentary in the strict sense. The study is divided into two parts. In the first part, he examines the midrash tradition of the seven songs, deriving it from the Mekilta and from the Targum of the Canticle; in the second part, he examines the same tradition of the enumeration of the songs, according to a christian second reading made by Origen in the above-mentioned works, and he thus demonstrates the affinities existing between the Father of the School of Alexandria and the Jewish Sages.


One of the fundamental challenges in pattern recognition is choosing a set of features appropriate to a class of problems. In applications such as image retrieval, if is important that features used by the system in pattern comparison provide good measures of "perceptual similarity". The authors present a new set of features and an image model based on the three mutually orthogonal components produced by the 2-D Wold decomposition of random fields. These components have visual properties which approximate the three most important perceptual dimensions of human texture perception. The method presented here is different from the existing Wold-based models in that it tolerates certain local inhomogeneities which arise in natural textures and reduces computation for comparison of patterns subjected to transformations such as rotation. An image retrieval algorithm based on the new texture model is presented. The effectiveness of the new Wold features for retrieving perceptually similar natural textures is demonstrated by comparing it to that of other well-known pattern recognition methods. The Wold model appears to offer a perceptually more satisfying measure of pattern similarity.


Nowadays smartphones and smartphone-applications are a part of our daily life. There are variety of different operating systems in the market that are unalike, which are an obstacle to developers when it comes to developing a single application for different operating system. Furthermore, hybrid application development has become a potential substitute. The evolution of new hybrid approach has made companies consider hybrid approach as a viable alternative when producing mobile applications. This research paper aims to compare native and hybrid application development on a feature level to provide scientific evidence for researchers and companies choosing application development approach as well as providing vital information about both native and hybrid applications.This study is based on both a literature study and an empirical study. The sources used are Summon@BTH, Google Scholar and IEEE Xplore. To select relevant articles, the Snowballing approach was used, with Inclusion and Exclusion criteria's.The authors concluded that native development is a better way to develop more advanced applications which uses more device-hardware, while hybrid is a perfectly viable choice when developing content-centric applications.


Various protein factors, including telomerase and WRN helicase, are involved in telomere maintenance. Resveratrol (Rsv), a polyphenol that extends the lifespan of diverse species is an activator of SIRT1, a NAD(+) dependent deacetylating enzyme in mammalian cells. Here, we examined the changes in gene expressions and promoter activities of WRN helicase and telomerase after Rsv treatment. This treatment increased the amount of WRN transcript and protein product by activating its promoter and telomerase promoter activity and gene expression. However cell proliferation was not changed. This suggests that Rsv induces telomere maintenance factors like WRN helicase without affecting cell proliferation.


In this paper, we present a new interactive fuzzy satisficing method for solving multiobjective nonlinear programming problems by considering that the decision maker (DM) has fuzzy goals for each of the objective functions. The fuzzy goals of the DM are quantified by eliciting corresponding membership functions through the interaction with the DM. After determining the membership functions, if the DM specifies his reference membership values, the Tchebycheff norm problem is solved and the DM is supplied with the corresponding Pareto optimal solution and the trade-off rates between the membership functions. Then by considering the current values of the membership functions as well as the trade-off rates, the DM responds by updating his reference membership values. In this way the satisficing solution for the DM can be derived efficiently from among a Pareto optimal solution set by updating his reference membership values. On the basis of the proposed method, a time-sharing computer program is written and an illustrative numerical example is demonstrated together with the computer outputs.


Arsenic (As) contamination in groundwater has been recognized in the Mekong River Delta (MRD) since 2001, especially in Dong Thap and An Giang provinces. The investigations were carried out during 2008-2009 and from 2012 to present. The investigations of As distribution in groundwater and sediments were based upon the field, and laboratory analyses using field kit (Hironaka, 1998) and AOAC laboratory - Vietnamese standard 6626-2000 (Vilas). Results show that the As concentrations ranging from 15 to 1,650 µg/l is found in 520 private tubewells at depth between 15 and 90 m, while being rare or very low at depth between 200 and 300 m. High As content is usually found in 15-70m tubewells in which approximately 70 - 80% of tubewells having arsenic levels of >500µg/l are located at some areas in Dong Thap and An Giang provinces in the upper MRD plain. Bore core drilling records show a probable relationship between As concentration in groundwater and sedimentary facies in the MRD. The highest As content is found along the Mekong River valleys in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene aquifers. References Ahmed, K.M., et al., 2004. Arsenic enrichment in groundwater of the alluvial aquifers in Bangladesh: an overview, Applied Geochemistry, 19(2), 181-200. Nguyen. V.L., Ta. T.K.O., Tateishi. M., 2000. Late Holocene depositional environments and coastal evolution of the Mekong River Delta, Southern Vietnam. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences. 18(4), 427-439. Nguyen. V.L., Ta. T.K.O., and Nguyen. V.D., 2006. Some results from study on arsenic contamination in groundwater in the Mekong River Delta and solutions to prevent. VAST Workshop on Science and Technology in relation of practice. Ho Chi Minh City. 6 pp. (in Vietnamese with English abstract). Nguyen, V.L., Ta. T.K.O., and Nguyen. V.D., 2008: Groundwater arsenic contamination in the Mekong River Delta - its effect on environment and public health. Proceedings of Research on Science and Technology, HCMC Institute of Resources Geology, 47-53 (in Vietnamese with English abstract). Nguyen. V.L., Ta. T.K.O. and Nguyen. V.D., 2009: Recent situation of arsenic contamination in groundwater in Dong Thap Province, Mekong River Delta, Southern Vietnam. Technical report. 98 pp (in Vietnamese). Nguyen Van Lap, Ta Thi Kim Oanh, Saito, Y., 2010: Early Holocene initiation of the Mekong River Delta, Vietnam, and the response to Holocene sea-level changes detected from DT1 core analyses. Sedimentary Geology, 230, 146- 155. Polizzotto, M.L., Kocar B.D., Benner, S.G., Sampson, M. and Fendorf, S., 2008: Near-surface wetland sediments as a source of arsenic release to ground water in Asia. Nature  454, 505-508. Ta, T.K.O., Nguyen, V.L., Tateishi, M., Iwao, K., Saito, Y., 2002: Holocene delta evolution and sediment discharge of the Mekong River, southern Vietnam. Quaternary Science Reviews, 21, 1807-1819. Ta. T.K.O., Nguyen. V.L., Tateishi. M., Kobayashi. I., Saito. Y., 2005: Holocene delta evolution and depositional models of the Mekong River Delta, southern Vietnam. In L. Giosan and J.P. Bhattacharya. eds., River Deltas-Concepts, Models and Examples. SEPM special publication. 83. 453-466. Tamura T., Saito Y., Sieng, S., Ben, B., Kong, M., Choup, S., Tsukawaki, S., 2009. Initiation of the Mekong River delta at 8 ka: evidence from the sedimentary succession in the Cambodian lowlands. Quaternary Science Reviews 28, 327-344. Research Group for Applied Geology, 1999: Arsenic contamination of groundwater in Bangladesh, Tech. Rep., 90.


BACKGROUND/AIMS
Mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) is a common transmission mode of hepatitis B virus (HBV). It has been shown that the infection may occur in some infants despite the use of immunoprophylaxis, and many studies have demonstrated the efficacy of antivirals such as lamivudine to reduce such events.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
A meta-analysis was conducted concerning the efficacy and safety of lamivudine during pregnancy, in the prevention of vertical transmission of HBV infection. Studies were identified by searching various databases up to January 2016 for variations of the following phrase: "lamivudine AND (pregnancy or pregnant) AND (HBV or hepatitis)." Subjects who had received lamivudine were included in the case group, and those who had not were included in the control group.

RESULTS
Our search identified a total number of 881 citations, of which 25 studies (with a total number of 2,667 pregnant women) were included in the meta-analysis. The analysis showed a significant difference between the seropositive HBsAg infants from the case and control groups (RR= 16.97, 95% confidence interval 8.36-34.45), which is the most critical factor in determining the MTCT of HBV. No significant difference was reported between the prevalence of side effects in the case and control groups.

CONCLUSION
This meta-analysis strongly suggests the use of lamivudine in the prevention of HBV vertical transmission in carrier pregnant women with the HBV DNA levels greater than 106 copies/mL. And for women with the HBV viral loads lower than 106 copies/mL, we suggest clinicians to examine the use of lamivudine on a case-to-case basis, noting that lamivudine seems to be a safe drug for the mother and the fetus.


Despite having similar brains, related species can display divergent behaviors. Investigating the neural basis of such behavioral divergence can elucidate the neural mechanisms that allow behavioral change and identify neural mechanisms that influence the evolution of behavior. Fewer than three percent of Nudipleura (Mollusca, Opisthobranchia, Gastropoda) species have been documented to swim. However, Tritonia diomedea and Pleurobranchaea californica express analogous, independently evolved swim behaviors consisting of rhythmic, alternating dorsal and ventral flexions. The Tritonia and Pleurobranchaea swims are produced by central pattern generator (CPG) circuits containing homologous neurons named DSI and C2. Homologues of DSI have been identified throughout the Nudipleura, including in species that do not express a dorsal-ventral swim. It is unclear what neural mechanisms allow Tritonia and Pleurobranchaea to produce a rhythmic swim behavior using homologous neurons that are not rhythmic in the majority of Nudipleura species. Here, C2 homologues were also identified in species that do not express a dorsal-ventral swim. We found that certain electrophysiological properties of the DSI and C2 homologues were similar regardless of swim behavior. However, some synaptic connections differed in the nondorsal-ventral swimming Hermissenda crassicornis compared to Tritonia and Pleurobranchaea. This suggests that particular CPG synaptic connections may play a role in dorsal-ventral swim expression. DSI modulates the strength of C2 synapses in Tritonia, and this serotonergic modulation appears to be necessary for Tritonia to swim. DSI modulation of C2 synapses was also found to be present in Pleurobranchaea. Moreover, serotonergic modulation was necessary for swimming in Pleurobranchaea. The extent of this neuromodulation also correlated with the swimming ability in individual Pleurobranchaea; as the modulatory effect increased, so too did the number of swim cycles produced. Conversely, DSI did not modulate the amplitude of C2 synapses in Hermissenda. This indicates that species differences in neuromodulation may account for the ability to produce a dorsal-ventral swim. The results indicate that differences in synaptic connections and neuromodulatory dynamics allow the expression of rhythmic swim behavior from homologous non-rhythmic components. Additionally, the results suggest that constraints on the nervous system may influence the neural mechanisms and behaviors that can evolve from homologous neural components. INDEX WORDS: Evolution, Neuromodulation, Homology, Mollusc, Electrophysiology, Synapse A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE NEURAL BASIS FOR DORSAL-VENTRAL SWIMMING IN THE NUDIPLEURA


Modernism in Serbia is the first comprehensive account of an almost forgotten body of work that once defined regional modernism at its best. The book reconstructs the story of Serbian modernism as a local history within a major movement and views the buildings designed in Belgrade in the 1920s and 1930s as part of a larger cultural phenomenon. Because so many of the buildings discussed are disintegrating or have been destroyed or altered beyond recognition, the book serves not only as a documentary and critical study but also as a preservation resource. Most of the photographs and plans have never been published outside of Serbia, if at all.In restoring this work to its rightful place in the history of modern architecture, the book also sheds new light on a number of other stories. These include the influence of Le Corbusier and of the Yugoslav avant-garde movement Zenitism and the impact of international modern movements on the theoretical underpinnings of Serbian modernism. One of the subplots follows the story of the Group of Architects of the Modern Movement in Belgrade and its four founding members, Milan Zlokovic, Branislav Kojic, Jan Dubovy, and Dusan Babic. Through anexamination of their work and that of other modern architects, most notably Dragisa Brasovan and Nikola Dobrovic, the book discusses the identity of Serbian modernism as it was established in the period from 1925 to 1940. The book also identifies those buildings that represent the purest examples of Serbian modernism and analyzes the qualities that make them quintessentially local forms while part of the larger modernist movement.Modernism in Serbia is a copublication of the Harvard Design School and MIT Press.


Photograph of a female student hitting a tennis ball during a match at the University of North Texas, in Denton, Texas. Her back is turned. She is wearing a black tank top and a black tennis skirt, and she has a tattoo on the back of her right shoulder. Her hair is in a ponytail, and she wears a black headband and barretts in her hair.


Infections with high-risk human papillomaviruses (HPVs) have been implicated in the pathogenesis of cervical carcinoma and a subset of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN). In this study, we compared the cellular gene expression profiles of HPV16-positive and HPV-negative oropharyngeal carcinomas with those of the normal oral epithelium. Using a high-density oligonucleotide microarray containing 22,215 human transcripts, we showed that 397 and 162 genes were differentially expressed in HPV16-positive and HPV-negative SCCHN, respectively, compared to the normal oral epithelium. Our studies also identified 59 differentially expressed genes in HPV16-positive SCCHN as compared to both HPV-negative SCCHN and normal oropharyngeal tissues. Such up-regulated genes included those involved in nuclear structure and meiosis (SYCP2), DNA repair (RFC5), and transcription regulation (ZNF238). Genes involved in proteolysis (KLK8) and signal transduction (CRABP2) were found to be down-regulated in HPV-positive SCCHN. Our results reveal specific gene expression patterns in HPV16-positive oropharyngeal squamous carcinomas and suggest that HPV infection could play an important etiologic role in these tumors. In another study using the same high-density microarray platform, we have analyzed the cellular gene expression profiles of five HPV-16 and two HPV-18 positive cervical cell lines, one HPV-negative cervical carcinoma cell line, and normal cervical tissue. Our results showed that 877 and 536 genes were differentially expressed in the HPV-positive cell lines compared to the normal cervix tissue and the HPV-negative cervical carcinoma cell line C-33A, respectively. We also found that a total of 57 genes were differentially expressed in the HPV-positive cell lines as compared to both the normal cervix and C-33A. Differentially expressed genes including those involved in cell proliferation such as the L-type amino acid transporter 1 (LAT1, also known as SLC7A5) and gene expression regulation like nucleosome assembly protein 1-like 3 (NAP1L3) were found to be affected for the first time in cervical cell lines. In situ hybridization of LAT1 and NAP1L3 mRNA performed using tissue-arrays (containing ~50 different cervical tumor samples per slide) showed that these genes are also affected in their expression in tumor tissues. These results could lead to the identification of new cellular pathways affected by the presence of HPV in cervical cells. We have also carried out studies to determine whether the expression of human microRNAs (miRNAs; small non-coding RNAs that have the ability to regulate gene expression) are affected by the presence of HPV DNA. For this purpose, we analyzed the expression of miRNAs in HPV-16 positive cervical cell lines and tissues. Twenty-seven miRNAs were differentially expressed in cervical cell lines containing integrated HPV-16 DNA compared to the normal cervix, while, only 6 miRNAs were differentially expressed in a cell line containing episomal HPV-16 DNA compared to the normal cervix. Furthermore, 10 miRNAs were affected in their expression in cell lines containing integrated HPV-16 DNA compared to C-33A. Interestingly, microRNA-218 (miR-218) was specifically underexpressed in cell lines, cervical lesions and cancer tissues containing integrated HPV-16 DNA as compared to both the HPV-negative cell line C-33A and the normal cervix. Expression of the HPV-16 E6 oncogene in transfected cells reduced miR-218 expression, and conversely, RNA interference of E6/E7 oncogenes in an HPV-16 positive cell line increased miR-218 expression. We also showed that miR-218 expression parallels that of the tumor suppressor gene SLIT2 whose intron encodes miR-218. Furthermore, exogenous expression of miR-218 in HPV-16 positive cell lines decreased expression of the epithelial-specific gene LAMB3 which is involved in cell migration and tumorigenicity. These findings demonstrate specific regulation of cellular miRNAs in the presence of an HPV oncogene and may contribute to a better understanding of molecular mechanisms involved in cervical carcinogenesis.


In two-particle angular correlation measurements, jets give rise to a near-side peak, formed by particles associated to a higher $p_{\mathrm{T}}$ trigger particle. Measurements of these correlations as a function of pseudorapidity ($\Delta\eta$) and azimuthal ($\Delta\varphi$) differences are used to extract the centrality and $p_{\mathrm{T}}$ dependence of the shape of the near-side peak in the $p_{\mathrm{T}}$ range $1<p_{\mathrm{T}}<$ 8 GeV/c in Pb-Pb and pp collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}$ = 2.76 TeV. A combined fit of the near-side peak and long-range correlations is applied to the data and the peak shape is quantified by the variance of the distributions. While the width of the peak in the $\Delta\varphi$ direction is almost independent of centrality, a significant broadening in the $\Delta\eta$ direction is found from peripheral to central collisions. This feature is prominent for the low $p_{\mathrm{T}}$ region and vanishes above 4 GeV/c. The widths measured in peripheral collisions are equal to those in pp in the $\Delta\varphi$ direction and above 3 GeV/c in the $\Delta\eta$ direction. Furthermore, for the 10\% most central collisions and $1<p_{\mathrm{T, assoc}}<$ 2 GeV/c, $1<p_{\mathrm{T, trig}}<$ 3 GeV/c a departure from a Gaussian shape is found: a depletion develops around the centre of the peak. The results are compared to AMPT model simulations as well as other theoretical calculations indicating that the broadening and the development of the depletion is connected to the strength of radial and longitudinal flow.


The primary role of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is hydrolysis of acetylcholine (ACh). However, observations by numerous groups have suggested that AChE may have non-cholinergic functions. Furthermore, developmental roles for AChE and its related enzyme, butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE), which is also capable of ACh hydrolysis, have been postulated. One line of evidence to support a non-cholinergic role for AChE is the apparent disparity in several brain areas between the distribution of AChE and the cholinergic marker choline acetyltransferase. The substantia nigra (SN), an area of the ventral mesencephalon (VM), which contains the dopaminergic cells that degenerate in Parkinson's disease (PD), is an area that displays such a disparity. One approach to treating PD involves implantation of embryonic dopaminergic VM cells into the parkinsonian brain. This procedure, known as foetal transplantation, has met with limited success, in part due to degeneration of dopaminergic cells within the donor preparation. It is known that incorporation of trophic factors into the preparation for grafting improves dopaminergic cell survival. It has previously been shown that AChE enhances survival and neurite outgrowth of postnatal dopaminergic cells in organotypic cultures of the VM. The aim of the studies in this thesis was to establish the effects of BuChE and AChE on embryonic dopaminergic neurons in a preparation analogous to that used in the animal model of foetal transplantation as a treatment for PD. Addition of BuChE and monomeric (G 1- ) and tetrameric (G 4- ) forms of AChE enhanced dopaminergic neurite outgrowth. Inhibition of the active site of BuChE and AChE by echothiophate had no effect upon neurite outgrowth or cell survival, demonstrating that the trophic effects of BuChE and AChE on neurite outgrowth were not dependent upon ACh hydrolysis. In contrast, inhibition of the peripheral anionic site (PAS) of AChE by BW284c51 markedly decreased cell survival and neurite outgrowth. The mechanism of action of BW284c51 toxicity was subsequently investigated using a mixture of nicotinic ACh receptor antagonists in order to demonstrate that the chronic toxic effects of BW284c51 were not a consequence of elevated ACh resulting from inhibition of AChE. Finally, the technique of whole-cell patch-clamp electrophysiology revealed a novel inhibitory effect of BuChE and G 1- and G 4- AChE on voltage-dependent calcium currents. It was postulated that these actions underlie the trophic effects of BuChE and AChE on embryonic dopaminergic neurons, a suggestion that was supported by the findings that established inhibitors of voltage-dependent calcium currents enhanced dopaminergic neurite outgrowth. The findings of this thesis are discussed in the context of other studies and are related to both physiological and pathological functions of the central nervous system.


Wide ranging changes have been made to the scheme for licensing the sale of alcohol, the provision of regulated entertainment and late night refreshment. Changes since the Licensing Act 2003 include those brought about by the: Live Music Act 2012 Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 Mandatory Licensing Conditions Order 2010 Police and Crime Act 2009. The second edition of this popular guide to licensing law and practice has been extensively revised and updated to take account of these statutory reforms. It also covers amendments to the Secretary of State's guidance, significant licensing law decisions, and new aspects of licensing control, such as the late night levy. The Licensing Law Handbook safely guides practitioners through all aspects of the new and revised procedures, including: applications for authorisation operating schedules objections to authorisation the offences, closure powers and appeals. With its uniquely practical approach, the Licensing Law Handbook is sure to become every practitioner's first point of reference for licensing law matters.


No other edition offers extensive textual apparatus such as explanatory notes, plot summaries, particularly vital as stories are complex and interwoven. The Sultan Schahriar's misguided resolution to shelter himself from the possible infidelities on his wives leads to an outbreak of barbarity in his kingdoms and a reign of terror in his court, stopped only by the resourceful Scheherazade. The tales with which Scheherazade nightly postpones the muderous intent of the sultan have entered our language and our lives like no other collection of narratives before or since. Sinbad, Aladdin, Ali Baba: all make their spectacular entrance on to the stage of English literary history in the Arabian Nights Entertainments (1704-17). The stories contained in this 'store house of ingenious fiction' initiate a pattern of literary reference and influence which today remains as powerful and intense as it was throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This edition reproduces in its entirety the earliest English translation of the French orientalist Antoine Galland's Mille et une Nuits. This remained for over a century the only English translation of the story cycle, influencing an incalculable number of writers, and no other edition offers the complete text supplemented by full textual apparatus. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.


The Philippines sits atop vast mineral deposits estimated to be worth around PhP 47 trillion. Yet mining in the Philippines has a mixed track record as far as its impact on human and economic development. This paper tries to draw lessons from the Marcopper Mine in Marinduque, Philippines, using a framework — what we call a "mining and inclusive growth causality chain" — to begin to think through how extractive industries can contribute to inclusive growth. Essentially, there is a chain of inputs and events that — when properly executed by various stakeholders — could lead to very strong economic and human development outcomes not just for the communities directly affected by the mine, but also the country as a whole. Too often, this chain is easily broken by both governance and market failures. Addressing these failures through such means as proper consultative mechanisms, transparent and professionally managed wealth funds, and accountability arrangements for key stakeholders (including mining companies, government agencies, and key regulators) could all contribute to a properly functioning "production chain" that sees natural resource wealth transformed into development outcomes.


Many educators advocate that the teaching and learning of science should be done at three conceptual levels – the macroscopic, sub-microscopic and symbolic levels. Although there are simple resources available to provide learning experience at these levels, the pedagogical guidance for educators to link and deliver concepts effectively at these three conceptual levels of understanding is inadequate. Using the action research cycle of planning, acting, observing and reflecting as a research methodology, we developed a lesson design framework to address this concern effectively. The framework was aptly applied to design lessons for abstract concepts that are perceived to be difficult to learn by secondary school students such as the strength of acids and the precipitation of salts. The efficacy of this framework is evident from the direct feedback garnered through interviews of participating students as well as the positive teaching outcome based on the qualitative and quantitative data collected. We leveraged on the data and feedback gathered after each implementation to refine our framework and plan for the next cycle of action. This paper not only seeks to illustrate an effective pedagogical model for all science educators, but also exemplifies how action research may be used as a methodological approach to address gaps in teaching practices.


We describe a geometric Littlewood-Richardson rule, interpreted as deforming the intersection of two Schubert varieties into the union of Schubert varieties. There are no restrictions on the base eld, and all multiplicities arising are 1; this is important for applications. This rule should be seen as a generalization of Pieri's rule to arbitrary Schubert classes, by way of explicit homotopies. It has straightforward bijections to other Littlewood-Richardson rules, such as tableaux, and Knutson and Tao's puzzles. This gives the rst geometric proof and interpretation of the Littlewood-Richardson rule. Geometric consequences are described here and in [V2], [KV1], [KV2], [V3]. For example, the rule also has an interpretation in K-theory, suggested by Buch, which gives an extension of puzzles to K-theory.


ABSTRACT The New York State and national housing markets crashed in 2008. Difficulties in the New York State housing market have continued since then, as housing values are depressed and, in many instances, mortgages on homes exceed the value of the homes themselves. Many homeowners have defaulted on their mortgages, and the number of mortgage foreclosure actions filed in state court has increased, creating a need and an opportunity for procedural certainty and clarity. To respond to the residential mortgage foreclosure "crisis," the State of New York enacted and amended a coordinated series of statutes designed to protect homeowners facing foreclosure on their homes in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011, in a public policy effort of maintaining as many families in their homes as possible. The statutes at issue include Real Property Law ("RPL") section 265-a, Banking Law sections 6-1 and 6-m, Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law ("RPAPL) sections 1303 and 1304, and Civil Practice Laws and Rule ("CPLR") section 3408. To date, provisions of most of these statutes have required interpretation by courts at both the trial and appellate level. There is now a body of appellate case law addressing issues of first impression regarding the meaning and operation of these homeowner protection statutes. This article summarizes the state of residential foreclosure law in New York State today, including its new homeowner protection laws and the cases that have interpreted them. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT I. STANDING, STANDING, STANDING A. Issues Peculiar to the Standing of Plaintiffs B. Issues Peculiar to the Standing Defenses of Defendants II. THE HOME EQUITY THEFT PREVENTION ACT AND RPL SECTION 265-A III. HEPTA'S 90-DAY MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE NOTICE UNDER SECTION 1304 HEPTA'S 90-DAY MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE NOTICE UNDER SECTION 1304 OF NEW YORK'S REAL PROPERTY ACTIONS AND PROCEEDINGS LAW IV. HEPTA's HOUSING COUNSELOR NOTICE REQUIREMENT UNDER RPAPL SECTION V. THE PROVISIONS OF BANKING LAW SECTIONS 6-L AND 6-M VI. MANDATORY SETTLEMENT CONFERENCES UNDER CPLR SECTION VII. ATTORNEY AFFIRMATION REQUIREMENTS VIII. PROSCRIBING SUA SPONTE ACTIVITIES BY TRIAL COURTS IX. CONCLUSIONS Unsettled times make well-settled law. There have been significant recent developments in New York State statutes and appellate decisional authority with regard to New York's law on residential mortgage foreclosures. (1) The statutes, mostly enacted in 2008 as a result of difficulties experienced in the New York State housing market, require a measure of judicial interpretation. (2) Cases affording the opportunity for interpretation have begun reaching the appellate courts. This article seeks to summarize those developments, as particularly reflected by several opinions rendered by the Appellate Division, Second Department. The major developments in residential mortgage foreclosure law have centered in the areas of standing, pleading requirements, court procedures, and consumer protections as reflected by the constituent statutes of the Home Equity Theft Protection Act CHETPA"), and court procedures, each of which will be discussed here. (3) The intention of this article is not to advocate for any position on the current statutory and decisional law, but to instead provide a snapshot of where residential mortgage foreclosure law stands at this time. This is, after all, a period of significant litigation activity prompted by both the decline of New York's housing market and statutes enacted by the state legislature to address the foreclosure crisis. (4) The reader may notice that almost all of reported cases that are discussed in this article originate from the Second Department. The reason is not that particular emphasis is being placed upon the decisions of that court, and reveals no bias on the part of the author. …


Understanding Dave Eggers surveys the work of one of the most celebrated American authors of the twenty-first century and is the first book-length study incorporating Eggers's novels, short-story collections, and film scripts. With a style aimed at students and general readers alike, Timothy W. Galow offers a textual analysis that uniquely combines Eggers's early autobiographical works and the subject of celebrity as well as his later texts that deal with humanitarian issues. Galow devotes a chapter to each of Eggers's major works, from his first book, the Pulitzer Prize-nominated memoir, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, though his recent novel, A Hologram for the King, a National Book Award finalist about an aging American businessman chasing success in Saudi Arabia. Other chapters cover You Shall Know Our Velocity, What Is the What, and Zeitoun. Each chapter studies the major themes and styles of the featured work while also placing it in the context of Eggers's oeuvre. In this way Galow examines each text in its own right, but he also offers us a larger guide to all of Egger's work. Providing important historical background for understanding Eggers's literary work, Galow examines how Eggers's texts are deeply invested in both his own public persona and the changing cultural conditions in the United States over the past twenty years. Galow's careful analysis is conveyed in clear language that engages issues important to contemporary critics without being pedantic or jargon laden. As a result Understanding Dave Eggers can serve as a useful introduction to the author's work or a valuable resource for the devoted reader.


Introduction: Tibiotalar arthritis of foot is a progressive pathology; if left untreated, patients experience excruciating pain at every step while walking/weight bearing. The treatment depends on whether the pain is to be managed conservatively or surgically. This article is intended for the description of a technique performing tibiotalocalcaneal arthrodesis (TTCA) using an indigenous femur supracondylar nail, an intramedullary fixation. Materials and methods: This article contains a prospective study of 21 patients with a mean age of 46 years, males – 13 and females – 8, who underwent TTCA with intramedullary fixation for the diagnoses of osteoarthrosis (6 patients), rheumatoid arthritis (6 patients), and arthritis secondary to avascular necrosis (AVN) of talus/trauma (9 patients), with a mean follow-up interval of 22 months. Results: Out of 21 patients, 96.55% union rate was achieved at a mean time to union of 16 weeks, with one patient (3.45%) going for delayed union. Conclusion: Intramedullary nailing is an excellent method of fixation for TTCA in the appropriately selected patients. Using an indigenous supracondylar femoral nail is a cost-effective method, and this gave equivalent results as that of other intramedullary nails in properly selected patients. Arthrodesis using Supracondylar Femoral Intramedullary Interlocking Nail. (Asia-Pacific) 2017;4(1):23-29.


Abstract The historical and social science literature is divided about the importance of metropolitan blueprints of colonial rule for the development of colonial states. We exploit historical records of colonial state finances to explore the importance of metropolitan identity on the comparative development of fiscal institutions in British and French Africa. Taxes constituted the financial backbone of the colonial state and were vital to the state building efforts of colonial governments. A quantitative comparative perspective shows that pragmatic responses to varying local conditions can easily be mistaken for specific metropolitan blueprints of colonial governance and that under comparable local circumstances the French and British operated in remarkably similar ways.


textabstractThe aim of this chapter is to review the foreign 'runaway' productions filmed in Jamaica throughout the twentieth century and up to the present, and to demonstrate the close ties between film and tourism on the island during this period of over 100 years. While recent studies have begun to explore the contemporary connections between film and tourism, relatively little attention has been paid to the historical intersections between the two. Historical studies on the collaboration between the film and tourism industries in the non-Western world are particularly scant. In fact, also separately the film and tourism histories of non-Western countries have received little scholarly notice in comparison to their Western counterparts. Notwithstanding some notable exceptions, Jamaica's film location history has been hardly dealt with, especially in relation to the island's tourism industry. This chapter could serve as a starting point to fill this gap.


Trade and travel are the primary drivers of biological invasion both into and within the United States, and prevention measures have been identified as the most cost-effective means of minimizing the introduction and impact of invasive species. A recognized gap in the US government's knowledge of the role that trade has played in the introduction of invasive species into the US led to a study undertaken by the US Environmental Protection Agency's Office of International Affairs and IUCN. The aim was to identify the resources, strategies, and policies necessary to create, maintain, and make accessible one or more commodity/invasive species databases that EPA and other relevant agencies can apply to trade policy decision-making in a timely and scientifically-based manner.


In this research the contemporary art of the !Xun community in Platfontein, Kimberley is used as a case study to ascertain whether contemporary Bushman art, contrary to the mid-nineteenth century perception that it was child-like, and the present-day sense that it belongs to the past, is based on recognisable aesthetic principles. A functional-semiotic approach is applied, which takes the signs in painting, separates and categorises them in order to locate a painting's iconic, indexical and symbolic signs. This analysis is done to assess whether or not contemporary Bushman art can be validated as a valuable area of contemporary art and whether creative individuals among the !Xun community may be viewed not as relics of a past people but as legitimate contemporary artists. This argument is revealed through post-structuralist analysis of the individual artworks of two particular !Xun artists. Interviews with !Xun artists uncovered the ways in which they represent themselves in their art, not only for themselves but for the viewers of that art. The constituents of the power relations between art dealers and the artists are also considered. The problematics of 'authentic Bushman art' is discussed and 'authenticity' in this regard is shown to be a contestable issue. The research then moves to an examination of the impact of modernity on the Bushmen and their art. Mindful of the economic exploitation of these artists in the present day, recommendations are made concerning forms of development which include teaching the artists about art markets, in order to empower them to engage effectively with dealers. Further recommendations are made toward the creation of a code of conduct which would apply to indigenous arts and the relationships between artists, dealers and consumers of the art.


Disparities in health between social groups have been documented all over Europe. We summarize the methods and results of the Addressing Inequalities in Regions (AIR) project, which identified illustrative interventions and policies developed in European regions to reduce inequalities at the primary health care level. The first phase was a systematic review of the published literature. The second phase was a survey of European regions, collecting information on policies aiming at reducing health inequalities through primary health care and identifying regional, innovative and evaluated interventions. The third phase assessed interventions through methods defined by a formal consensus, and selected illustrative practices considered good practices for several of nine evaluation criteria. The review included 98 evaluations of interventions and 10 reviews; 80% of interventions were from North-America. Three main pathways to reduce health inequalities were identified: providing health promotion, improving financial access to care and modifying care provision. The first survey identified 90 interventions. Most national strategies included health inequalities issues. Education was the most frequently identified targeted determinant. Most interventions were health promotion general or targeted at specific health determinants, conditions or groups. The second survey assessed 46 interventions. Many involved the population in planning, implementation and evaluation. We also identified the multidisciplinary of interventions, and some who had an impact on empowerment of the targeted population. The AIR project documented that policies and actions can be implemented at the regional level through primary care providers. Policies and interventions are seldom evaluated.


Simple, circular loops in a single optical fiber bonded to a metal test sample are used to form multiple strain gauge rosettes. Strain measurements are made using an optical backscatter reflectometer to detect changes in the phase of the Rayleigh Scatter of the fiber with 160-μm spatial resolution along the length of the fiber. Applied strain levels, as well as the axis along which the loads are applied, are measured. Thermal gradients are also detected. The high spatial resolution and strain sensitivity of this technique enable highly functional fiber rosettes formed of small diameter loops of unaltered low-bend-loss optical fiber. Using this technique, multiple rosettes can be formed in a single fiber to created distributed measurements of principal strains.


Background: Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is currently the only curative treatment for acute leukemia. As HSCT improves the long-term survival, it is necessary to assess the late-onset complications affecting the quality of life following HSCT. Subjects and Methods: The study included 122 patients (65 male, 57 female) with leukemia (72 AML and 50 ALL) who received transplants from fully- matched siblings, unrelated donors and unrelated cord blood donors between February 2013 and August 2014 in Shariati Hospital. All study participants were over 18 years of age and had the minimum and maximum survival of 2 and 5 years, respectively. Patients who received HLA-haploidentical SCT were excluded from the study. All allogeneic recipients received busulfan and cyclophosphamide as conditioning regimen. Nobody received TBI-based conditioning regimen in this study. Patients were evaluated for cardiovascular, vision, psychological, endocrine, fertility problems and secondary malignancies one year after transplantation. Results : Data were analyzed using SPSS 15.0. Mitral and tricuspid regurgitation (TR/MR) were the most common cardiac complications (n=12, 10.5%).Thirty-nine percent of patients had psychological problems, especially depression (34%). Cataract was observed in 13% of patients and 34% complained of dry eye. Symptomatic pulmonary changes were found in 13 patients (10.6%). None of the HSCT survivors had experienced fertility before study entry. According to LH and FSH levels, 15% and 9% of females had ovarian failure, respectively. Testosterone level was less than normal in 49(84%) men and, according to their FSH and LH level, 20 (41%) had secondary hypogonadism and 29 (59%) had primary gonadal dysfunction. Conclusion: The results showed that patients who received Bu/Cy conditioning regimen experienced fewer late side effects such as cataract formation and hypothyroidism, compared to previous studies using TBI-based conditioning regimen.


Abstract Limitation in cervical spine range of motion (ROM) is one criterion for diagnosis of cervicogenic headaches (CHs). The flexion–rotation test, when performed passively (FRT-P), has been shown to be a useful test in diagnosis of CH. Few investigations have examined the flexion-rotation test when performed actively (FRT-A) by the individual, and no studies have examined the FRT-A in a symptomatic population. The purpose of this study was to compare ROM during the FRT-A and FRT-P in patients with CH and asymptomatic individuals and to compare ROM between sides for these two versions of the test. Twelve patients with CH and 10 asymptomatic participants were included in the study. An eight-camera Motion Analysis system was used to measure head motion relative to the trunk during the FRT-P and the FRT-A. Cervical rotation ROM was measured in a position of full cervical flexion for both tests. No significant difference was observed between right and left sides for cervical rotation ROM during the FRT-P nor the FRT-A when performed by asymptomatic participants. In patients with CH, a significant difference was observed between sides for the FRT-P (P = 0·014); however, the FRT-A failed to reveal bilateral descrepancy in rotation ROM.


Abstract This recommendation document follows the mission of the World Association of Perinatal Medicine in collaboration with the Perinatal Medicine Foundation. We aim to bring together groups and individuals throughout the world for precise standardization to implement the ultrasound evaluation of the fetus in the first trimester of pregnancy and improve the early detection of anomalies and the clinical management of the pregnancy. The aim is to present a document that includes statements and recommendations on the standard evaluation of the fetal anatomy in the first trimester, based on quality evidence in the peer-reviewed literature as well as the experience of perinatal experts around the world.


Backgr ound: In view of the growing globalization, volunteer service organizations, local universities, colleges, and student groups have begun extending their service programs from Taiwan to other countries. This study employs a self-organized, self-funded group of university students participating in international service-learning as its subject, and explores the service experience and the effectiveness of learning. The services they provided consisted of teaching guidance, community development and raising money for building nursery school and field-work. Aims: The purpose of this study was to investigate the cross-cultural experiences of participants and compared the differences between the Taiwan students and overseas Chinese students from Myanmar who were returning to their homeland. Resear ch method: A qualitative method, using in-depth interview was adopted to conduct this research. Six college students were interviewed, including three Taiwan students and three overseas Chinese students from Myanmar. C onclusion: The most important feature of the Seeing Home Again Service Team is the mutual cooperation between Taiwanese students and overseas Chinese students from Myanmar. The intercultural experience of participating in an international service-learning enabled the Taiwanese university students to experience the following forms of growth: personal experience with a different view of the world, growing understanding and appreciation of a different culture, awareness of one's own strengths, finding life goals for the future, challenging past thinking habits. The overseas Chinese students from Myanmar who had come to Taiwan to study underwent the following changes from their intercultural experience of serving in their homeland: increased possible career choices, reflections induced by the field survey and a new understanding of their homeland, alone with an increased interaction with Taiwanese students.


This study examined whether the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM (SCID), a widely used semistructured interview designed to assess psychopathology categorically, can be adapted to identify reliable and valid severity dimensions of psychopathology. The present study also examined whether these severity dimensions have better psychometric properties (internal consistency, test–retest reliability, and concurrent and predictive validity) than categorical diagnoses. Participants (N = 234) were recruited from the community and clinics. Retest reliability and prospective predictive validity (symptoms and functioning 1 year later) were examined in subsamples of participants. Dimensional severity scales were created from an adapted version of the SCID for both current and lifetime major depression, alcohol, substance, post‐traumatic stress disorder, panic, agoraphobia, social anxiety, specific phobia, obsessive–compulsive disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder. The SCID's severity scales demonstrated substantial internal consistency (all Cronbach's αs >.80), test–retest reliability, and concurrent and predictive validity. Symptom severity scales demonstrated significant incremental validity over and above categorical diagnoses for both current and prospective outcomes. The psychometric properties of SCID‐identified symptom scales were far superior to the psychometrics of categorical diagnoses for both current and lifetime psychopathology. These results highlight the feasibility and utility of the SCID to assess reliable and valid symptom severity dimensions of both current and lifetime psychopathology.


BACKGROUND Multiple laboratory tests are used in the diagnosis and management of patients with diabetes mellitus. The quality of the scientific evidence supporting the use of these assays varies substantially. APPROACH An expert committee compiled evidence-based recommendations for the use of laboratory analysis in patients with diabetes. A new system was developed to grade the overall quality of the evidence and the strength of the recommendations. A draft of the guidelines was posted on the Internet, and the document was modified in response to comments. The guidelines were reviewed by the joint Evidence-Based Laboratory Medicine Committee of the AACC and the National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry and were accepted after revisions by the Professional Practice Committee and subsequent approval by the Executive Committee of the American Diabetes Association. CONTENT In addition to the long-standing criteria based on measurement of venous plasma glucose, diabetes can be diagnosed by demonstrating increased hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) concentrations in the blood. Monitoring of glycemic control is performed by the patients measuring their own plasma or blood glucose with meters and by laboratory analysis of HbA1c. The potential roles of noninvasive glucose monitoring, genetic testing, and measurement of autoantibodies, urine albumin, insulin, proinsulin, C-peptide, and other analytes are addressed. SUMMARY The guidelines provide specific recommendations based on published data or derived from expert consensus. Several analytes are found to have minimal clinical value at the present time, and measurement of them is not recommended.


The objective of the work presented in this Ph.D. thesis is to develop a novel method to address the airspace obstacle avoidance problem in presence of uncertainty, providing optimal trajectories in terms of risk of collision and time of flight.
The obstacle avoidance maneuver is the result of a Conflict Detection and Resolution (CD&R) algorithm prepared for a potential conflict between an aircraft and an uncertain fixed obstacle.
Due to the growing interest in Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) operations, CD&R topic has been intensively discussed and tackled in literature in the last 10 years. One of the crucial aspect that needs to be addressed for a safe and efficient integration of UAS vehicles in non-segregated airspace is the CD&R activity. The inherit nature of UAS, and the dynamic environment they are intended to work in, put on the table of the challenges the capability of CD&R algorithms to handle with scenarios in presence of uncertainty. Modeling uncertainty sources accurately, and predicting future trajectories that take into account stochastic events, is a rocky issue in developing CD&R algorithms for optimal trajectories. Uncertainty about the origin of threats, variable weather hazards, sensing and communication errors, are only some of the possible uncertainty sources that make jeopardize air vehicle operations.
In this work, conflict is defined as the violation of the minimum distance between a vehicle and a fixed obstacle, and conflict avoidance maneuvers can be achieved by only varying the aircraft heading angle. The CD&R problem, formulated as Optimal Control Problem (OCP), is solved via indirect optimal control method. Necessary conditions of optimality, namely, the Euler-Lagrange equations, are obtained from calculus of variations, the obstacle constraint is modeled as stochastic variable, and it is included in the OCP. The implicit equations of optimality lead to formulate a Multipoint Boundary Value Problem (MPBVP) which solution is in general not trivial. The structure of the optimality trajectory is inferred from the type of path constraint, and the trend of Lagrange multiplier is analyzed along the optimal route. The MPBVP is firstly approximated by Taylor polynomials, and then solved via Differential Algebra (DA) techniques.
The solution of the OCP is therefore a set of polynomials representing the optimal controls in presence of uncertainty, i.e., the optimal heading angles that minimize the time of flight, while taking into account the uncertainty of the obstacle position. Once the obstacle is detected by on-board sensors, this method provide an useful tool that allows the pilot, or remote controller, to choose the best trade-off between optimality and collision risk of the avoidance maneuver. Monte Carlo simulations are run to validate the results and the effectiveness of the method presented. The method is also valid to address CD&R problems in presence of storms, other aircraft, or other types of hazards in the airspace characterized by constant relative velocity with respect to the own aircraft.


Abstract Language change is often traced to language contact, but the specific sociolinguistic processes are not fully understood. This article reports on our field research of contact between Chinese and two minority languages in rural southwest China: Sui and Qiang. The study shows how lexical tone, an underrepresented variable in sociolinguistics, can be valuable as an empirical measure of language contact and change. Furthermore, we find that it is the same Chinese tone, a high tone in Southwest Mandarin, which is affecting the phonologies of both of these disparate minority languages. We use a social constructionist approach to model these changes: the "Structure" of a language is dialectically constructed by individual moments of speech — "Events" — which are in turn influenced by Structure. From this perspective, each individual use of a high-tone Chinese word is constructing and changing Sui and Qiang. Tone therefore provides an audible gauge of cross-cultural contact, reflecting and constructing the rapidly changing sociolinguistic landscape of rural southwest China.


This Special Feature gathers the results of five research projects funded by the 7th Research Framework Program of the European Union and aims to identify successful cases of community-based management of environmental challenges in Latin America. The funding scheme, Research for the benefit of Civil Society Organizations, fostered innovative research approaches between civil society and research organizations. More than 20 field sites have been explored, and issues such as trade-offs between conservation and development, scientific versus local knowledge, social learning, ecosystem services, community owned solutions, scaling-up and scaling-out strategies, the influence of context and actors in effective environmental management and governance, and the conflicts of interests around natural resources have been addressed. Based on our experiences as project coordinators, in this editorial we reflect on some of the important lessons gained for research praxis and impact, focusing on knowledge of governance models and their scaling-out and scaling-up, and on methods and tools to enable action research at the science–civil society interface. The results highlight the richness of community-based management experiences that exist in Latin America and the diversity of approaches to encourage the sustainable community-based management of environmental challenges. (Resume d'auteur)


Aspergillus sp. and Trametes versicolor solid-state monocultures produced high titers of xylanases and laccases activities (4617 ± 38 and 2759 ± 30 U/g substrate , respectively). Fungal biomass was quantified by estimating the ergosterol content of the mycelium, and by a simple material balance the corresponding residual substrate was obtained. Fungal growth and substrate consumption rates showed different behavior for these monocultures (μ = 0.03 and 0.11 h −1 ; r s = − 0.04 and − 0.0006 g substrate /h, respectively). In this case, xylanases production was directly linked to the growth, while laccases were produced during both growth and maintenance phases. Besides xylanases (42% of total Aspergillus enzyme), high titers of cellulases (15%), amylases (34%), and invertases (9%), as well as lignin and manganese peroxidases (10 and 24% of the total Trametes enzyme), were produced on the corresponding monocultures. When both fungi were used in a coculture mode, xylanases and laccases production decreased (around 85 and 70%), and the proportion of the hydrolases and oxidases changed. This suggested the need for most careful coculture design, in order to produce both enzymatic activities simultaneously even though the enzymatic extracts obtained by mono- or cocultures can be applied in several bioprocesses.


The vision most people used to have of medical research is that professors gain funding from universities or government agencies, go to the lab for careful observation and experiment, and after some years publish their hard-won results in scholarly, peer-reviewed medical journals. This is probably a simplified story that never played out quite as envisioned. As a result of commercial interests in the outcome of medical research, we are now even further from it. Pharmaceutical companies' marketing departments have developed a novel strategy. The old vision allowed costly failures when reality did not cooperate with the company's plans for its new molecular entities. With the rising price of bringing a new drug to the market, a method that guaranteed success was needed. Instead of fitting the conclusion to the evidence, the industry's strategy now is to "defend the molecules": Select the data that promote the drugs, file away the results that are unfavorable, and then buy just the right academic credentials to sign on to ghostwritten articles produced by the marketing department staff or by public relations agencies employed by the company. Publish these articles in the most respected medical journals. Complete the circle of evidence by citing the published ghostwritten journal articles in "Dear Doctor" letters and other promotional materials, as if they were independent verification of the effectiveness and safety of the drugs. To some extent, academic medicine has long involved ghostwriting. Scientific writers have often written up the results of studies. But while this practice deprives the authors of the credit they rightly deserve, it does not threaten to undermine the scientific integrity of medical research. What is relatively new on the scene is industry-sponsored ghostwriting. Drug promotional materials masquerade as legitimate scientific research, and competition between the pharmaceutical companies for the market share is fought out using "key opinion leaders" who are paid to sign on to the ghostwritten articles. What follows is an account of one such case. The documents that build the case were filed into the public record by GlaxoSmithKline's lawyers on June 23, 2004 (docket numbers 290 and 291) in the In re Paxil Products Liability Litigation MDL 1574. They were then used in an ABC Primetime program on antidepressants that aired on December 9, 2004. (1) The author is a research consultant for Baum-Hedlund, the Los Angeles-based law firm that filed the suit on behalf of individuals suffering from withdrawal symptoms upon discontinuing Paxil, which is one of the antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). As it turns out, the differences in efficacy among the SSRIs are minimal, so their side effects profiles can make all the difference in how doctors prescribe them. In the mid-1990s, Eli Lilly, which manufactures Prozac (another of the SSRIs), began attacking Paxil, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline-at that time, SmithKline Beecham--on just these grounds. In 1996-97, Lilly sponsored conferences and journal supplements focusing attention on the side effects caused by Paxil. (2) Paxil has a short "half-life"--the time after taking a drug at which half of the dose remains in the body--and therefore a short wash-out period when compared to Prozac. Paxil's half-life is twenty-one to twenty-four hours; Prozac's four to sixteen days. Because of the short half-life, a patient who abruptly ceases therapy with Paxil tends to have more severe withdrawal symptoms. Lilly's strategy was to play up the problems associated with Paxil's short half-life. One key paper sponsored by Lilly was Jerrold F. Rosenbaum and John Zajecka's "Clinical Management of Antidepressant Discontinuation," presented at a closed symposium titled "SSRI Discontinuation Events" and later published in a supplement of the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. (3) In this short paper, Rosenbaum and Zajecka stressed the importance of gradually tapering all SSRIs except fluoxetine (Prozac). …


Globalisation pressures and demographic trends affect the chances of the Nordics to be prosperous and indirectly threaten the welfare states as we know them. These pressures and trends underline the twin challenge to the Nordics of productivity stagnation and a decreasing work force. A contribution to an answer to both challenges can be an increase in productivity and new ways to increase the work force. A good work environment can do both. In this context, the Nordic Council of Ministers has initiated a project aiming at clarifying the impact on productivity of work environment and well-being in companies. This report presents an indicator manual for use in measuring work environment in the Nordic countries. The report also outlines and defines a common Nordic concept of work wellbeing. The indicators serve as important first steps on the way to thorough econometric analysis of the relationship between work environment, well-being, and productivity.


Ever since its inception during slavery, the African-American Church has served as an advocate for the socio-economic improvement of this nation's African-Americans. Accordingly, for many years, the Church has been politically active, serving as the nurturing ground for several African American politicians. Indeed, many of the country's early African-American legislators were themselves members of the clergy of the various denominations that constituted the African-American Church.In 1934, Congress amended the Internal Revenue Code to prohibit tax-exempt entities- including churches and other houses of worship-from allowing lobbying to constitute a "substantial part" of their activities. In 1954, Congress further amended the Code to place an absolute prohibition on political campaigning by these tax-exempt organizations. While these amendments did not specifically target churches and other houses of worship, they have had a chilling effect on efforts by these entities to fulfill their mission. This chilling effect is felt most acutely by the African-American Church, a church established to preach the Gospel and engage in activities which would improve socio-economic conditions for the nation's African-Americans.This Article discusses the efforts made by the African-American Church to remain faithful to its mission and the inadvertent attempts made by Congress to impede the fulfillment of this mission. The Article will propose a solution to the tug-of-war that would enable the Church to fulfill its mission while acting within the confines of the law. This proposal would allow the future involvement of the Church and other houses of worship in political activity, with these entities funding their involvement with taxable funds. The adoption of this proposal would allow the Church, for the first time since 1954, to fulfill its mission without fear of breaking the law or losing its tax-exempt status.


In Kids and Rules: Challenging Individualization in Special Education, I take the provocative position that individualization in special education (or IEPs, "individualized education programs) should be abandoned in favor of rules. My proposal is limited to situations where multiple students share educational needs that can be addressed with the same intervention. I argue that the allegiance in special education to the idea of individualization derives more from the history of stigma and exclusion around disability than from substantial proof of benefit to today's children, forty years after the adoption of IDEA. Requiring school districts to propose and adopt rules in suitable situations could deliver multiple benefits, including greater use of evidence-based interventions, reducing disparities between high- and low-resourced families, and elevating democratic values such as public participation over privatization and individualization. The departure point for my argument is a Second Circuit case, Bryant v. New York State Education Department, 692 F.3d 202 (2012), in which New York state's rule against the use of aversive interventions in special education was upheld over parental objections about the statutory requirement of individualized plans. I apply the court's thinking to a hypothetical rule about interventions for preschool and elementary-age children who have Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD. The hypothetical rule is based on the IEPs proposed in thirty-cases over five years decided by the Southern District of New York. The cases are summarized in a chart that accompanies the article as an appendix.


We present the burst ages for young stellar populations in a sample of six nearby (<10 Mpc) spiral galaxies using a differential pixel-based analysis of the ionized gas emission. We explore this as an alternative approach for connecting large-scale dynamical mechanisms with star formation processes in disc galaxies, based on burst ages derived from the Hα to far-UV (FUV) flux ratio. Images of each galaxy in Hα were taken with Taurus Tunable Filter and matched to FUV imaging from GALEX. The resulting flux ratio provides a robust measure of relative age across the disc which we discuss in terms of the large-scale dynamical motions. Systematic effects such as a variable initial mass function, non-solar metallicities, variable star formation histories (SFHs) and dust attenuation have been used to derive estimates of the systematic uncertainty.

The resulting age maps show a wide range of patterns outside of those galaxies with the strongest spiral structure, confirming the idea that star formation is driven one by several processes, largely determined by the individual circumstances of the galaxy. Generally, grand design spirals such as M74, M100 and M51 exhibit age gradients across the main spiral arms, with the youngest star formation regions along the central and inner edges. Likewise, in the dominant star-forming complex of IC 2574 or the ring of M94, the most recent star formation is centrally confined to the regions of star formation activity. In M63 and M74 galaxy-wide trends emerge, contrary to the spiral structure in these galaxies, suggesting that spiral density waves are not the dominant driver in some cases. We argue that despite appearances, galaxy morphology is not an absolute discriminator of the SFH of an individual galaxy, nor of the processes triggering it. We conclude that Hα-to-FUV flux ratios are a relatively direct way to probe burst ages across galaxies and infer something of their dynamical histories, provided that sources of systematics are properly taken into account.


Evaporation and the surface energy balance over two land cover types in Sudanian savanna were investigated in terms of their seasonal and interannual variability using four years of eddy covariance measurement (2009-2013). The observations demonstrate the strong controls on evaporation by vegetation through modification of the surface roughness, albedo, and available moisture related to seasonal variations in land cover and topography. Two characteristic land uses of semi-arid West Africa (Burkina Faso) were monitored: agricultural fields and gallery forest. The sites receive around 800 mm of rain most years, typically between the months of May and October, with up to approximately 20% being transferred to runoff. Seasonal variation in all components of the energy balance was found to be greater over the agricultural landscape, the total latent energy flux over the gallery forest was higher by approximately 30%, and the evaporative fraction was more dependent on soil moisture in the agricultural fields. According to the diurnal behavior of the evaporative fraction, we isolate constant periods that we compare with measures of cloudy sky, NDVI and soil moisture. We identify predictors of diurnal variation of the evaporative fraction according to land cover, which allows incorporation of remote sensing and satellite data. Improved understanding of the variability of fluxes over diverse land cover will allow us to improve the estimation of evaporation to the atmosphere over the entire watershed. Ongoing outreach projects accompany this research to integrate findings with local knowledge to improve resilience of small-scale rain fed agriculture.


We determined the spatial distribution patterns of the Branched and Isoprenoid Tetraether (BIT) index, a specific proxy of riverborne soil organic carbon (OC) input from land to the ocean, by analyzing soils from the Têt watershed (France) and surface sediments from the Gulf of Lions (NW Mediterranean) into which the Têet and Rhône Rivers flow. The BIT index pattern in the Têt watershed is heterogeneously distributed, varying between 0.2 and 1.0, with an average BIT value of 0.84 ± 0.14 (n = 58). Soil pH is the major factor controlling soil BIT values among the environmental factors considered on the basis of the statistical analysis of environmental parameters and glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether concentrations. In the Gulf of Lions, BIT values range from 0.01 to 0.85, with higher values along the coast compared with those offshore. The soil OC contributions to the total organic carbon (TOC), estimated on the basis of the BIT index, are > 10% along the coast, whereas those from the outer shelf and the continental slope are < 10%.


Our brains are wired in such a way that we can recognize a friend or loved one almost as easily whether we hear their voice or see their face. Specialized areas of the brain—in this case, the visual and auditory networks—are specially tuned to different properties of physical objects. These properties can be represented by multiple sensory modalities, so that a voice conveys nearly as much information about a person's identity as a face. This redundancy allows rapid, automatic recognition of multimodal stimuli. It may also underlie "unimodal" perception—hearing a voice on the phone, for example—by automatically reproducing cues that are usually provided by other senses. In this view, as you listen to the caller's voice, you imagine their face to try to identify the speaker. In a new study, Katharina von Kriegstein and Anne-Lise Giraud used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to explore this possibility and understand how multimodal features like voices and faces are integrated in the human brain.

Studies using fMRI have established that when someone hears a familiar person's voice, an area of the temporal lobe called the fusiform face area (FFA) is activated through temporal voice areas (TVAs), suggesting early interactions between these cortical sensory areas. von Kriegstein and Giraud wondered whether these cortical ensembles might lay the foundation for general "multisensory representation" templates that enhance unimodal voice recognition.

To explore this question, the researchers analyzed changes in brain activity and behavior after people learned to associate voices with an unfamiliar speaker. One group of participants learned to associate voices with faces and a second group learned to associate voices with names. Though both types of learning involve multimodal associations, voices and faces provide redundant information about a person's identity (such as gender and age), while voices and names provide arbitrary relationships (since any name could be associated with any voice). To further explore the contribution of redundant stimuli from the same source, the researchers added an additional set of conditions in which participants associated cellular phones with either ringtones or brand names. In this case, both cell phone and brand name were arbitrarily associated with a ringtone.

In the first phase of the fMRI experiment, participants listened to and identified either voices or ringtones. In the second phase, one group of participants learned to associate the voices and ringtones with faces and cell phones, while another group learned voice–name and ringtone–brand name associations. In the third phase, participants again heard only the auditory signals and identified either voices or ringtones as in phase one.

The brain scans showed that learning multisensory associations enhanced those brain regions involved in subsequent unimodal processing for both voice–face and voice–name association. But at the behavioral level, participants could recognize voices that they had paired with faces much more easily than they could recognize voices they had linked to names. Participants who had learned to associate voices with faces were the only ones to show increased FFA activation during unimodal voice recognition.

The fMRI results show that even a brief association between voices and faces is enough to enhance functional connectivity between the TVA and FFA, which interact when a person recognizes a familiar voice. In contrast, voice–name association did not increase interactions between voice and written name sensory regions. Similarly, people did not recognize ringtones any better whether they had learned to associate them with cell phones or brand names. Nor did their brain scans reveal any interactions between auditory and visual areas during ringtone recognition.

Altogether, these results show that learning voice–face associations generates a multimodal sensory representation that involves increased functional connectivity between auditory (TVA) and visual (FFA) regions in the brain and improves unimodal voice recognition performance. When only one sensory modality of a stimulus is available, the researchers conclude, one can optimally identify a natural object by automatically tapping into multisensory representations in the brain—cross-modal ensembles that are normally coactivated—as long as the stimulus provides redundant information about the object. Given that faces and voices are the major means of social communication for nonhuman primates as well as for humans, the reliance of multiple, redundant sensory modalities likely has deep roots in our evolutionary history.