Modeling of a natural circulation boiler for a coal-fired thermal power station is presented here. The boiler system is divided into seven subcomponents, and for each section, models based on conservation of mass, momentum, and energy are formulated. The pressure drop at various sections and the heat transfer coefficients are computed using empirical correlations. Solutions are obtained by using SIMULINK. The model is validated by comparing its steady state and dynamic responses with the actual plant data. Open loop responses of the model to the step changes in the operating parameters, such as pressure, temperature, steam flow, feed water flow, are also analyzed. The present model can be used for the development and design of effective boiler control systems.


Two Austrian case study regions within the Danube basin have been selected for detailed investigations of groundwater and surface water quality at the catchment scale. Water balance calculations have been performed using the conceptual continuous time SWAT 2000 model to characterise catchment hydrology and to identify individual runoff components contributing to river discharge. Nitrogen emission calculations have been performed using the empirical emission model MONERIS to relate individual runoff components to specific nitrogen emissions and for the quantification of total nitrogen emissions to surface waters. Calculated total nitrogen emissions to surface waters using the MONERIS model were significantly influenced by hydrological conditions. For both catchments the groundwater could be identified as major emission pathway of nitrogen emissions to the surface waters. Since most of the nitrogen is emitted by groundwater to the surface water, denitrification in groundwater is of considerable importance reducing nitrogen levels in groundwater along the flow path towards the surface water. An approach was adopted for the grid-oriented estimation of diffuse nitrogen emissions based on calculated groundwater residence time distributions. Denitrification in groundwater was considered using a half life time approach. It could be shown that more than 90% of the total diffuse nitrogen emissions were contributed by areas with low groundwater residence times and short distances to the surface water. Thus, managing diffuse nitrogen emissions the location of catchment areas has to be considered as well as hydrological and hydrogeological conditions, which significantly influence denitrification in the groundwater and reduce nitrogen levels in groundwater on the flow path towards the surface water.


P. oleracea L. contains high level of nutrients and biologically active compounds. Recently, lactic fermentation has been proposed as a biotechnological option to enrich the profile of biogenic compounds of Portulaca oleracea L. puree. This study investigated the capability of fermentation by selected lactic acid bacteria to enhance the restoring features of Portulaca oleracea juice towards intestinal inflammation and epithelial injury. Lactic acid fermentation markedly increased the total antioxidant capacity of P. oleracea juice, preserved the inherent levels of vitamins C, A, and E, and increased the bioavailability of the level of vitamin B2 and that of phenolics. The effects of fermented P. oleracea juice on a Caco-2 cell line were investigated using an in vitro model closest to the in vivo conditions. Fermented P. oleracea juice strongly decreased the levels of pro-inflammatory mediators and reactive oxygen species. It also counteracted the disruption of the Caco-2 cell monolayers treated with the inflammatory stimulus. We used a diversified spectrum of lactic acid bacteria species, and some effects appeared to be strains- or species-specific. Fermentation with Lactobacillus kunkeei B7 ensured the best combination for the content of bioactive compounds and the ability to counteract the intestinal inflammation and epithelial injury.


Energy efficiency is a driving factor in modern electronic design particularly in power conversion where conversion losses directly set the upper limit of system efficiency. A wide variety of commercially available DC-DC conversion elements have efficiencies in the 90-97% range. The efficiency range of most common commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) power supplies is 75-85%, highlighting the fact that COTS power supplies have not kept pace with efficiency improvements of modern conversion elements. Unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) is an application where efficiency can be crucial in extending tight power budgets. In autonomous ground vehicles, geographic diversity with regard to sensor location is inherent because sensor orientation and placement are crucial to performance. Sensor power, therefore, is also distributed by nature of the devices being supplied. This thesis presents the design and evaluation of a smart power module used to implement a distributed power network in an autonomous ground vehicle. The module conversion element demonstrated an average efficiency of 96.7% for loads from 1-4A. Current monitoring and an adjustable output current limit were provided through a second circuit board within the same module enclosure. The module processing element sends periodic updates and receives commands over a CAN bus. The smart power modules successfully supply critical sensing and communication components in an operational autonomous ground vehicle.


British Muslims are citizens of the United Kingdom and also part of a worldwide community, the Umma, the Muslim community of the faithful. British Muslims have both national and transnational allegiances and on the part of the British state this has necessitated new ways of governing its Muslim citizens. Concerns over both terrorist violence and societal security questions regarding Muslims in the UK are both internal and external to the state. The government has had difficulties in finding transnational policy responses that go beyond the old division of internal and external security. After the terrorist attacks of 9/11, security was the main reason why the British state sought to engage Muslims, but this has been transformed into the wider agenda of 'community cohesion'. In tracing the Muslim groups that the government has engaged with since 2001, I show how the issue of governing Muslims has gone beyond concerns just about terrorism and violence to a wider agenda that accepts British Muslims as citizens, yet at the same time still reflects the fears of Muslim 'otherness'. I consider how this otherness is seen as a threat to societal security, and how the government's attempt to create policies to deal with such threats is best understood as the 'politics of unease'.


An experimental investigation of the binary system Co-Cr and the ternary system C-Co-Cr has been carried out in the present thesis. The experimental strategy adopted for the binary system was to measure the thermodynamic activities of Cr, the molar heat capacity as function of time, the phase transformation temperatures with corresponding enthalpies, the Curie transition temperature as well as melting temperatures with corresponding enthalpies. In the ternary system the strategy was to determine the solubility of Co in the Cr7C3 phase as well as the C and Cr contents in the Co rich (fcc) binder phase. The experimental results were compared with atomistic simulations of the solubility of Co in the Cr7C3 phase. Solid state galvanic cell measurements were conducted with both ZrO2-7.5 mol % CaO and CaF2 as the solid electrolyte. In view of possible errors in the measurements with ZrO2-7.5 mol % CaO, as a result of electronic contributions to the conduction of the solid electrolyte, new measurements were conducted with CaF2 as the solid electrolyte. The results indicated that the measured EMF values showed trends which were contrary to the thermodynamic behaviour expected from phase diagram considerations. It was concluded that further detailed experimentation was necessary in order to throw more light on the thermodynamic behaviour of the Co-Cr system. Two different series of DSC measurements were conducted, i.e. one in an atmosphere of pure hydrogen and another in pure argon. In the first investigation, conducted in an atmosphere of pure hydrogen in the temperature interval 318-1660 K, evidence was obtained for the existence of a phase transformation around 900 K in the compositional range 20.7-67.1 wt.% Cr. No indications of such a phase transformation had earlier been seen. In the second investigation, conducted in an atmosphere of pure argon in the temperature interval 298-1823 K, special attention was given to alloys in the Co rich corner of the phase diagram, i.e. 0-10 wt.% Cr. This investigation verified earlier findings of a phase transformations around 900 K in the compositional range 20.7-67.4 wt.% Cr. The magnetic transition temperatures for alloys low in Cr content were also obtained. With the use of the DTA technique the melting temperatures with corresponding enthalpy values for alloys in the compositional range 0.9-7.7 wt.% Cr were obtained. The three-phase triangle fcc+Cr7C3+graphite was investigated at 1373 K, 1423 K and 1473 K. The obtained results showed that the solubility of cobalt in the Cr7C3 phase was significantly higher than previously predicted by thermodynamic calculations.


This paper is the second in a series of cytologic studies on Toxoplasma. The first dealt with the cytologic structure of the parasite as found in the ascitic fluid of the infected mouse and as revealed by the Feulgen reaction (1). An investigation of the inflammatory reaction to Toxoplasma, simultaneously, in the omentum and in the peritoneal fluid follows logically because: 1. The close juxtaposition of this tissue and the fluid obligates their concomitant consideration; 2. Certain artifacts of common occurrence with other tissues may be avoided with the omentum; (a) Sectioning for microscopic examination is unnecessary; (b) The blood vessels and nerves may be observed in situ in relatively lengthy unmutilated portions; (c) The inoculation is without trauma to the omentum so that infection results from an unmodified selective migration of the parasite; and 3. The varied cellular structure of the omentum permits the assumption of a similar pattern of invasion for other tissues in the mouse.


The variability of pharmacotherapy can be of a significant magnitude, and the main reason for this is often diseases heterogeneity. Patients who have similar diagnoses very often respond differently to the same pharmacological intervention, with great variability in both efficacy and safety outcome. Despite having discussed personalized medicine for more than a decade, we still see that most drug prescriptions for severe chronic diseases are largely based on 'trial and error' and not on solid biomarker data. However, with the advance of molecular diagnostics and a subsequent increased understanding of disease mechanisms, things are slowly changing. Within the last few years, we have seen an increasing number of predictive biomarker assays being developed to guide the use of targeted cancer drugs. This type of assay is called companion diagnostics and is developed in parallel to the drug using the drug-diagnostic co-development model. The development of companion diagnostics is a relatively new discipline and in this review, different aspects will be discussed including clinical and regulatory issues. Furthermore, examples of drugs, such as the ALK and PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors, that have been approved recently together with a companion or complimentary diagnostic will be given.


Most network applications today are written to use TCP/IP via sockets. Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) is gaining popularity because its zero-copy, kernel-bypass features provide a high throughput, low latency reliable transport. Unlike TCP, which is a stream-oriented protocol, RDMA is a message-oriented protocol, and the OFA verbs library for writing RDMA application programs is more complex than the TCP sockets interface. UNH EXS is one of several libraries designed to give applications more convenient, high-level access to RDMA features. Recent work has shown that RDMA is viable both in the data center and over distance. One potential bottleneck in libraries that use RDMA is the requirement to wait for message advertisements in order to send large zero-copy messages. By sending messages first to an internal, hidden buffer and copying the message later, latency can be reduced at the expense of higher CPU usage at the receiver. This paper presents a communication algorithm that has been implemented in the UNH EXS stream-oriented mode to allow dynamic switching between sending transfers directly to user memory and sending transfers indirectly via an internal, hidden buffer depending on the state of the sender and receiver. Based on preliminary results, we see that this algorithm performs well under a variety of application requirements.


ABSTRACT Kämpf, J. and Ellis, H., 2015. Hydrodynamics and flushing of Coffin Bay, South Australia: A small tidal inverse estuary of interconnected bays. Using a three-dimensional hydrodynamic model and the concept of water age, this study explores the hydrodynamics and flushing characteristics of Coffin Bay, South Australia, which is a small inverse estuary of interconnected bays. Model findings suggest that the estuary is mainly tidally flushed throughout the year. Despite the existence of strong tidal flows >1 m/s in passages between bays of the estuary, the resultant tidal stirring zones are largely disconnected from each other. This disconnection induces a relatively slow flushing of the estuary's inner bays, where maximum water ages are 80–100 days. Given the tidal dominance in the flushing dynamics, a simple diffusion equation based on a total effective transverse diffusivity D (estimated from the model predictions) can be used to describe the flushing behaviour of the estuary. This equation is applied to derive the thermal response of Coffin Bay to either temperature variations in ambient shelf water or changes in surface heat fluxes. Findings indicate that, on timescales of 30 days, the inner bays of Coffin Bay respond predominantly to changes in surface heat fluxes, whereas the outer bay is more responsive to temperature variations in ambient shelf water. We quantify these individual responses in terms of spatially variable "thermal response factors," which are fundamental properties inherent in the estuary's flushing dynamics.


Abstract
 The rocky outcrops are indeed islands amidst a "sea" of soil and thus their floristic composition and species diversity are influenced by stochasticity. Our discovery was settled to regional level, mainly from the Mantel tests (rM = 0.41, p = 0.01) and partial Mantel (rM = 0.41, p = 0.03), significant when contrasting the floristic x geographical distances and floristic x geographical distances with environment distance weighted, respectively. At the local level, clustering by Group mean (UPGMA) did not show a general pattern for the geographical distance, suggesting that in outcrops stochastic processes are the major actors at the regional scale while the local level need to be more intensely studied in order to reach better conclusions.


The histopathologic findings in two cases of senile macular degeneration were correlated with the premortem clinical studies, from the onset in both cases and through the disciform stage in one case. In case 2, the postmortem eyes were obtained only one month after ophthalmoscopic, fluorescein angiographic, and fundus photographic studies were performed, all on the same day. Our report not only adds to the few clinicopathologic correlations of the lesions in senile macular degeneration reported in the literature, but also presents the first reconstruction to scale of subretinal pigment epithelial (sub-RPE) neovascularization. Our results confirm the diagnosis of sub-RPE neovascularization and serous detachment of the retinal pigment epithelium. Drusen were correlated as to number and general location but not individually. Serous detachment of the neurosensory retina was found histopathologically but not clinically.


Abstract The paper presents enhancements and innovative solutions of the proposed in [3] algorithms for fingers tracking and hand gesture recognition based on new defined features describing hand gestures and exploiting new-tracked tip and thumb joints from Kinect v2 sensor. Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) algorithm is used for gestures recognition. We increased its accuracy, scale and rotational invariance by defining new 3D featuring angles describing gestures and used for training a gesture database. 3D positions for fingertips are extracted from depth sensor data and used for calculation of featuring angles between vectors. The provided by Kinect v2 3D positions for thumb, tip and hand joints also participates during the phases of recognition. A comparison with the latest published approach for finger tracking has been performed. The feasibility of the algorithms have been proven by real experiments.


In many applications such as parameter identification of oscillating systems in civil enginee-ring, speech processing, image processing and others we are interested in the frequency con-tent of a signal locally in time. As a start wavelet analysis provides a time-scale decomposition of signals, but this wavelet transform can be connected with an appropriate time-frequency decomposition. For instance in Matlab are defined pseudo-frequencies of wavelet scales as frequency centers of the corresponding bands. This frequency bands overlap more or less which depends on the choice of the biorthogonal wavelet system. Such a definition of frequency center is possible and useful, because different frequencies predominate at different dyadic scales of a wavelet decomposition or rather at different nodes of a wavelet packet decomposition tree. The goal of this work is to offer better algorithms for characterising frequency band behaviour and for calculating frequency centers of orthogonal and biorthogonal wavelet systems. This will be done with some product formulas in frequency domain. Now the connecting procedu-res are more analytical based, better connected with wavelet theory and more assessable. This procedures doesn't need any time approximation of the wavelet and scaling functions. The method only works in the case of biorthogonal wavelet systems, where scaling functions and wavelets are defined over discrete filters. But this is the practically essential case, because it is connected with fast algorithms (FWT, Mallat Algorithm). At the end corresponding to the wavelet transform some closed formulas of pure oscillations are given. They can generally used to compare the application of different wavelets in the FWT regarding it's frequency behaviour.


We have carried out a detailed characterization of chemical inhomogeneities in Bi2212 single crystals grown by a floating zone method. According to the chemical analyses using WDS, there are two types of inhomogeneities; one with linear structures extending toward the a-axis, and another with sheet-like structures that lying along the a-axis. The line defects relate to compositional inhomogeneities, such as Ca-enriched or Ca-deficient regions, with widths ranging from a few nanometres to micrometres and lie parallel to the crystal a-axis. From the observation of local flux line arrangement using a Bitter decoration technique and a magneto-optical imaging technique, the flux line arrangement at the defect region is largely affected by the type of nonstoichiometry involved. We found that the flux-line lattice at the Ca-enriched region has a hexagonal order with small scattering, while that at the Ca-deficient region is amorphous. On the other hand, the crystal with sheet-like inhomogeneities showed a 'zebra-like' flux penetration and trapping behaviour. This result suggests that the samples are composed of two kinds of regions with completely different pinning properties.


Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text. Background: Obesity is strongly associated with exercise intolerance and the development of heart failure. Whereas myocardial energetics and diastolic function are impaired in obesity, systolic function is usually preserved. This suggests that the rate of ATP delivery is maintained, but this has never been explored in human obesity. We hypothesized that ATP transfer rate through creatine kinase (CK) (kfCKrest) would be increased, compensating for depleted energy stores (phosphocreatine/ATP), but potentially limiting greater ATP delivery during increased workload. We hypothesized that these changes would normalize with weight loss. Methods: We recruited 80 volunteers (35 controls [body mass index 24±3 kg/m2], 45 obese [body mass index 35±5 kg/m2]) without coexisting cardiovascular disease. Participants underwent body composition analysis, magnetic resonance imaging of abdominal, liver, and myocardial fat content, left ventricular function, and 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy to assess phosphocreatine/ATP and CK kinetics, at rest and during dobutamine stress. Obese volunteers were assigned to a dietary weight loss intervention, before reexamination. Results: At rest, although myocardial phosphocreatine/ATP was 14% lower in obesity (1.9±0.3 versus 2.2±0.2, P<0.001), kfCkrest was 33% higher (0.23±0.07 s–1 versus 0.16±0.08 s–1, P=0.002), yielding no difference in overall resting ATP delivery (obese 2.5±0.9 µmol·g–1·s–1 versus control 2.2±1.1 µmol·g–1·s–1, P=0.232). In controls, increasing cardiac workload led to an increase in both kfCK (+86%, P<0.001) and ATP delivery (+80%, P<0.001). However, in obesity, similar stress led to no significant increase in either kfCK (P=0.117) or ATP delivery (P=0.608). This was accompanied by reduced systolic augmentation (absolute increase in left ventricular ejection fraction, obese +16±7% versus control +21±4%, P=0.031). Successful weight loss (–11±5% body weight) was associated with improvement of these energetic changes such that there was no significant difference in comparison with controls. Conclusions: In the obese resting heart, the myocardial CK reaction rate is increased, maintaining ATP delivery despite reduced phosphocreatine/ATP. During increased workload, although the nonobese heart increases ATP delivery through CK, the obese heart does not; this is associated with reduced systolic augmentation and exercise tolerance. Weight loss reverses these energetic changes. This highlights myocardial energy delivery through CK as a potential therapeutic target to improve symptoms in obesity-related heart disease, and a fascinating modifiable pathway involved in the progression to heart failure, as well.


Wandering spleen is a rare condition in which the spleen is attached by a long, vascular pedicle and lacks its usual peritoneal attachments and supporting ligaments. This condition predisposes the spleen to torsion and infarction. We report the case of a 2-year-old boy with a history of intermittent abdominal pain and early satiety who presented with abdominal pain and severe gastric distention. A work-up including computed tomographic and ultrasonographic imaging suggested a wandering spleen. The diagnosis was confirmed during laparoscopy, and splenopexy was performed by anchoring the spleen in a retroperitoneal pocket in the left upper quadrant at the level of the tenth rib. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of minimally invasive splenopexy for wandering spleen that involves the creation of a retroperitoneal pocket without the use of mesh. The authors believe that this is a safe and effective method that takes advantage of laparoscopy and avoids the risk of infection and complications associated with the use of synthetic material.


Considerable attention has been paid during the last decade to vision-based navigation systems based on optic flow (OF) cues. OF-based systems have been implemented on an increasingly large number of sighted autonomous robotic platforms. Nowadays, the OF is measured using conventional cameras, custom-made sensors and even optical mouse chips. However, very few studies have dealt so far with the reliability of these OF sensors in terms of their precision, range and sensitivity to illuminance variations. Three miniature custom-made OF sensors developed at our laboratory, which were composed of photosensors connected to an OF processing unit were tested and compared in this study, focusing on their responses and characteristics in real indoor and outdoor environments in a large range of illuminance. It was concluded that by combining a custom-made aVLSI retina equipped with Adaptive Pixels for Insect-based Sensor (APIS) with a bio-inspired visual processing system, it is possible to obtain highly effective miniature sensors for measuring the OF under real environmental conditions.


In this paper a novel approach for modelling Routing and Wavelength Assignment (RWA) problem in wavelength-routed Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) optical networks is proposed. A new idea based on Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) algorithm is introduced for solving RWA problem which is known to be an NP-hard problem. In the proposed ABC-RWA approach every food source represents a possible and feasible lightpath between each original and destination node pair in demand matrix. The positions of food sources are modified by some artificial bees in the population where the aim is to discover the places of food sources. The food source with the highest nectar value seems to be a solution which is evaluated by the fitness function. The simulation results demonstrate the ability and efficiency of proposed approach for solving RWA in real-world optical networks. The proposed approach could be extended for dynamic RWA schemes in real-time applications and employed by network resilience architectures.


A magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) method of oil separation from contaminated seawater is based on the difference in the electric conductivity between seawater and oil; the separation force applied to oil induced by the electromagnetic force is used to separate the oil. A new electrode partitioning MHD separation method has been designed and studied. This method has the advantage of utilizing a wide space with a uniform electromagnetic force, even though the superconducting magnet used has a nonuniform field distribution. Experimental results for the separation characteristics obtained from the electrode partitioning MHD method in a high magnetic field of 10 T using a mixture of artificial seawater and simulation particles instead of oil droplets are discussed.


Study Design. Prospective randomized study. Objective. To investigate differences in physical functional outcome in patients with radiculopathy due to cervical disc disease, after structured physiotherapy alone (consisting of neck-specific exercises with a cognitive-behavioral approach) versus after anterior cervical decompression and fusion (ACDF) followed by the same structured physiotherapy program. Summary of Background Data. No earlier studies have evaluated the effectiveness of a structured physiotherapy program or postoperative physical rehabilitation after ACDF for patients with magnetic resonance imaging–verified nerve compression due to cervical disc disease. Methods. Our prospective randomized study included 63 patients with radiculopathy and magnetic resonance imaging–verified nerve root compression, who were randomized to receive either ACDF in combination with physiotherapy or physiotherapy alone. For 49 of these patients, an independent examiner measured functional outcomes, including active range of neck motion, neck muscle endurance, and hand-related functioning before treatment and at 3-, 6-, 12-, and 24-month follow-ups. Results. There were no significant differences between the 2 treatment alternatives in any of the measurements performed (P = 0.17–0.91). Both groups showed improvements over time in neck muscle endurance (P ⩽ 0.01), manual dexterity (P ⩽ 0.03), and right-handgrip strength (P = 0.01). Conclusion. Compared with a structured physiotherapy program alone, ACDF followed by physiotherapy did not result in additional improvements in neck active range of motion, neck muscle endurance, or hand-related function in patients with radiculopathy. We suggest that a structured physiotherapy program should precede a decision for ACDF intervention in patients with radiculopathy, to reduce the need for surgery. Level of Evidence: 2


`A Writer With a Last Story To Write...' From an Unfinished Novel by Eleanor Dark Introduction Among Eleanor Dark's manuscripts there are unfinished novels, fragments of stories and essays, plays never performed. This novel, untitled, bundled into a homemade cardboard folder, has as its narrator Kate Vernon, a writer. She describes the rise and fall of the fortunes of her large extended family, tracing middle class Sydney lives from the time of the First World War through to the 1950s, as well as telling her own story. In 1951, Eleanor and Eric Dark went to Queensland, to join their son Michael and the writer Eric Lowe in the farming community of Montville. They spent winter there and summer in Katoomba for the next seven years. Katoomba had been their home for more than thirty years; but now they were suffering the consequences of their open support for leftwing causes. Eric Dark received death threats; his medical practice was collapsing; there were people who wouldn't speak to them, he said. Cold war politics, combined with economic conservatism, materialism and consumerism in Australia, the loss of her network of writers and different agendas in the literary community made Eleanor Dark feel alienated. She was tired and pessimistic about writing and political change. They made a new life in Montville as farmers and her mood lightened. In 1953, she published No Barrier, the last novel of the historical trilogy, and started on the first of the stories and essays about Montville life that made up her last published novel, Lantana Lane (1959). She went on writing, working on a novel, No Room for the Dead, and a play, The Last Appointment. In 1964, she talked about giving up writing; in 1971 she was still `tinkering' with No Room for the Dead, but it was never finished. The Kate Vernon novel and another manuscript called Dear Home Town seem to fit in somewhere between No Barrier and No Room for the Dead. She may have been working on them at the same time as the Lantana Lane stories. In the last section of this novel, dated 1952, Kate Vernon is in her fifties. She has just found out she has only a short time to live. Facing death, she feels a kind of liberating detachment. Eleanor Dark takes up again the meditation on time that is threaded through all her writing. In this extract Kate has just been talking to Maurice, her doctor and her ex-lover, who has told her she has perhaps only six or twelve months left. Because there is so little time, everything else falls away, and there is more time for writing. She reviews her life as a writer, and discovers a last story to write. Maurice, and all her friends, have always thought that writing filled her life, she says, but in fact it has been fitted into snatched hours. Lack of time has always loomed so large that it seemed for years (and perhaps was, then) the only really menacing obstacle [to writing]. But in the last decade or so I have become increasingly conscious of others, and realised that in the effort of scrambling for time, I have expended energy needed for other struggles, equally desperate. Thirty years ago I imagined -- most properly -- that I would someday be a good writer, if not a great one -- though even that seemed gloriously possible. This illusion faded into the decent and sober knowledge that I could never be more than a respectably competent one; and (such is the excellent adaptability of the human mind) I have come to accept it without anguish. There is really no question about what I shall do with my remaining bit of life; I shall write -- or begin -- another reasonably competent book. But it so happens that for the first time since -- at the age of seven or thereabouts -- I discovered that I like pushing a pen across a sheet of paper, I have no `work in progress'. Not even, now, my drawer full of scraps, for about a month ago, in a sudden frenzy of impatience, I burnt them all in the grate, and a fine pile of flimsy ashes they made. …


We discuss ultralow-power second-harmonic generation (SHG) frequency-resolved optical gating (FROG) in the telecommunication C-band using aperiodically poled lithium niobate (A-PPLN) waveguides as the nonlinear medium. A key theme of this work is that the phase-matching curve of the nonlinear medium is engineered to obtain an optical bandwidth adequate for measurement of subpicosecond pulses while retaining the optimum nonlinear efficiency consistent with this constraint. Our experiments demonstrate measurement sensitivity (defined as the minimum product of the peak and average pulse powers at which a reliable nonlinear signal can be detected) of 2.0×10−6 mW2 in a collinear SHG FROG geometry, approximately 5 orders of magnitude better than previously reported for any FROG measurement modality. We also discuss asymmetric Y-junction A-PPLN waveguides that permit background-free SHG FROG and a polarization-insensitive SHG FROG technique that eliminates the impairment that frequency-independent random polarization fluctuations induce in the FROG measurement. Finally, we applied these SHG FROG techniques in chromatic dispersion and polarization mode dispersion compensation experiments. In these experiments the FROG data enabled complete correction of distortions incurred by subpicosecond pulses passing through optical fibers; these results also demonstrate the ability to retrieve extremely complex pulses with high accuracy.


The tectonic history of the North Sea area can be subdivided into five stages: 1. Caledonian geosynclinal stage (Cambrian-Devonian). Metamorphic and intrusive rocks of Caledonian age form the basement complex for much of the North Sea area. The northeastern boundary of the Caledonian foldbelt at this stage cannot be defined more closely than as an apparent trend from the central North Sea through northern Germany into Poland. 2. Variscan geosynclinal stage. Devonian and Carboniferous deposition transgressed from the south over the eroded Caledonides and reached maximum thickness in the southern North Sea, an area which formed part of the Variscan foredeep. 3. Permian-Triassic intracratonic stage. Following the Variscan orogeny large parts of the North Sea were occupied by the rapidly subsiding intracratonic Northern and Southern Permian basins. These basins contain a thick sequence of clastic and evaporite deposits. 4. Rifting, taphrogenic stage. Development of the North Sea rift system started during the Triassic and dominated the paleogeographic setting of the area during the Jurassic and Cretaceous. The evolution of the North Sea rift is related to the development of the Arctic North Atlantic rift zone. The latter reached the stage of crustal separation in the early Tertiary, at which time the North Sea rift became inactive. 5. Tertiary, postrifting stage of regional basin subsidence. With the termination of rifting movements in the North Sea the area became subject to regional subsidence leading to the development of a symmetrical, saucer-shaped intracratonic basin. The late Tertiary Rhone-Rhine rift system does not extend into the North Sea and postdates the North Sea rift.


In this report, we study the ownership structure of large Finnish firms. We make an overview of the evolution of corporate ownership in Finland from the 1970s to today, and contrast the Finnish setting to international patterns of ownership. Factors that make the Finnish ownership field different from most Western countries include large government involvement, and a significant role of co-operatives. We also note that while the role of local banks was very significant, it diminished quickly upon the Finnish banking crisis in the early 1990s, and subsequent regulatory changes. The disappearance of banks as owners seems to have resulted in a power vacuum in Finnish listed firms. While the general lack of capital seems to plague the Finnish corporate sector, we note a specific need for anchor owners, in other words owners who hold a significant proportion of the firm's shares, and who are actively involved in the firm and can thus be seen as owners, instead of merely as investors. Among our policy implications, we see a need for an improved investing climate in Finland. The goal should be to make Finnish firms attractive in the eyes of both domestic and foreign investors. The government's large role as owner should, in our view, be reduced. However, changes in government's role need to be viewed as a long term goal, as hasty actions are likely to cause severe side effects. From the point of economic efficiency, the co-operative form is not optimal for a dynamic, integrated, and fast-changing world. Supporting migration from co-operatives to corporations should thus be considered. Institutions play a large role in corporate ownership throughout the world. We argue that the model of dispersed ownership and large institutional ownership with no active voice works less well in Finland, compared to the Anglo-American countries. Finland should consider ways in which the power of the corporate management team could be solidified, for management to have a better footing to pursue long term policies. Finally, the Finnish stock market needs to be made more attractive. A wider participation in the stock market would have wide spread positive effects to the economy.


A key problem in user relationship analysis is the identification and representation of user interest. The basis to tackle this issue is user similarity measures. In social tagging system, users collaboratively create and manage tags to annotate and categorize content for searching and recommending. Due to the contribution to reflect users' opinions and interests, tags are metadata for user similarity measures. However, there are some issues about it such as data sparseness, the user none-distinguished interest areas and relatively little consider about user influence. This article argues a similarity measure method that based on user's interest topic division. First, we construct tag clustering and divide the user community according to user interest areas. Second, we improve user similarity measurement model using social network analysis (SNA) and PageRank. Finally, the validity of the improved method about user similarity calculation is verified using del.icio.us data set. Experimental results show that the improved method gets the highest @ P N and sorting accuracy compared with the traditional tag-based user similarity.


This study aimed to investigate and describe the management of developing potential students based on Islamic views. This study used a qualitative method with a case study approach. The subjects of the research were Madrasah supervisors, Madrasah headmasters, and the teachers. The results of the study showed that the development of potential students when referring to the objectives of national education in particular and development, in general, is to create "Total Man" by creating human beings who has complete characteristics, harmonious, and balanced in the development of all aspects of his personality. Humans as a whole are individuals who can reach all relationships with God, with the environment or natural surroundings, with other humans in a constructive social life and with themselves. Management of the development of potential students based on Islamic views stipulates that new education will end when someone dies. Physically, seeking knowledge will end when someone dies, but the process of seeking knowledge continues to an infinite limit.


This study investigates regional differences in height in Sweden during the twentieth century using data from universal conscript inspections (for men). We find substantive differences (2-3 cm) in height between the counties. Men in the southern, southeastern and northernmost parts of Sweden were shorter. Men in the Stockholm and Goteborg regions were taller and we find no "urban penalty" in height. The differences in height between counties declined over the course of the twentieth century and the average height increased more in the counties with an initially shorter average height. We find the expected positive associations between height and the real wage in manufacturing and the regional GDP per capita respectively. The real wage in the manufacturing sector is more consistently associated with the county average height than that for the agricultural sector. Contrary to expectations, we find that the men were consistently taller in counties with higher food prices and where the relative price of animal foods was higher. The average height was negatively associated with the infant mortality rate during the men's childhood in the mid-twentieth century. The association was less clear in the early twentieth century.


International environmental negotiations often involve conflicts between developed and developing countries. However, considering environmental cooperation in a North-South dichotomy obscures important variation within the Global South, particularly as emerging economies become more important politically, economically, and environmentally. This article examines change in the Southern coalition in environmental negotiations, using the recently concluded Minamata Convention on Mercury as its primary case. Focusing on India and China, we argue that three key factors explain divergence in their positions as the negotiations progressed: domestic resources and regulatory politics, development constraints, and domestic scientific and technological capacity. We conclude that the intersection between scientific and technological development and domestic policy is of increasing importance in shaping emerging economies' engagement in international environmental negotiations. We also discuss how this divergence is affecting international environmental cooperation on other issues, including the ozone and climate negotiations.


Objective: To report baseline characteristics and surgical outcomes of placement of Baerveldt glaucoma implant (BGI) in Asian eyes with considerably elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) despite maximal medical therapy.
Design: Retrospective case series of surgical cases from a single surgeon. Retrospective review of medical records of last clinic visits.
Participants: One hundred and ninety-seven eyes of patients underwent placement of 350-mm2 Baerveldt implant.
Methods: The medical records of consecutive patients who underwent placement of a Baerveldt 350-mm2 glaucoma drainage device (GDD) at the International Specialist Eye Centre from 2007 to 2014 were reviewed. Patients with a minimum 1-year follow-up were included. Baseline characteristics, pre-operative and post-operative IOP, number of glaucoma medications, visual acuity (VA) and complications were recorded. The pre-operative IOP is compared with the IOP at 1, 2, 3 and 5 years.
Measures: The IOP, VA, supplemental medical therapy, complications and success and failures were recorded.
Results: One hundred and ninety-seven patients were followed up at 1-year post-operation, 157 patients at 2 years, 120 at 3 years and 37 at 5 years. The mean baseline IOP of 29.2 ± 10.6 mmHg was significantly reduced at all time points post-operatively. Mean number of glaucoma medications was significantly lower at last follow-up than pre-operatively (1.8 vs. 2.7).
Conclusions: Placement of GDDs effectively reduces IOP without much long-term complication and may be useful in glaucomatous eyes with considerably elevated pre-operative IOP not well controlled with maximal medical therapy in the Asian population.


A rapid method for the analysis of Pap smears has been developed with the use of near-infrared spectroscopy. Spectra of Pap smears from 50 female patients including 30 with normal cells, 9 with atypical cells, and 11 with cervical cancer were measured in the near-IR region of 4000 to 10,000 cm−1. Both the original spectra and the second-derivative spectra of Pap smears were subjected to data analysis. The malignant samples displayed abnormal spectra compared with the corresponding normal cervical samples; the atypical samples have spectral features characteristic of both normal and abnormal samples. With the use of principal component analysis (PCA) and discriminant analysis, the samples were grouped in patterns that were consistent with clinical analysis. Since obtaining near-infrared spectra of human tissues is a rapid and inexpensive process, the results suggest that the near-infrared spectra of human tissues may be of diagnostic value for cancer diagnosis.


Courts across many common law democracies have been wrestling with a shared predicament: proving cases against suspected terrorists in detention hearings requires governments to protect sensitive classified information about intelligence sources and methods, but withholding evidence from suspects threatens fairness and contradicts a basic tenet of adversarial process. This Article examines several models for resolving this problem, including the "special advocate" model employed by Britain and Canada, and the "judicial management" model employed in Israel. This analysis shows how the very different approaches adopted even among democracies sharing common legal foundations reflect varying understandings of "fundamental fairness" or "due process," and their effectiveness in each system depends on the special institutional features of each national court system. This Article examines the secret evidence dilemma in a manner relevant to foreseeable reforms in the United States, as courts and Congress wrestle with questions left open by Boumediene v. Bush.


The purpose of this project was to help identify the optimal design of temporary rumble strips that would be used in a work zone. The project involved a focus group and a psychological scaling experiment, where each subject was asked to evaluate a temporary rumble strip relative to a cut-in-pavement rumble strip. In addition, sound and vibration measurements were made from within a vehicle passing over the strips. The ATM rumble strips (0.25 inches thick) were deployed within an actual work zone in Washington County (WI), while the RTI strips (0.75 inches thick) were tested in a large parking lot. An ATM strip when traversed at 55 mph was about as effective a warning device as a cut-in-pavement rumble strip. This same strip configuration when traversed at 40 mph was ineffective. The RTI product is an effective warning device for vehicle speeds between 10 and 40 mph.


Challenging the popular view of the Meiji Restoration as a "revolution from above," this book argues that its main cause was neither the growing threat of the West nor traditional loyalty to Emperor and nation, but rather lay in class conflict and long-term institutional change. The author sees the Restoration as a revolution against feudal privilege carried out from below by a service intelligentsia of minor administrators, priests, scholars, and village officials. The book focuses on the politically most effective body of activists, those in the domain of Choshu, and on their most important leaders of the 1850s and 1860s: Yoshida Shoin, Kusaka Genzui, and Takasugi Shinsaku. It examines their social and educational background, explores their motives for acting, and follows them through their intellectual and political struggles. The final chapter explains various heretofore puzzling aspects of the Meiji period (1868-1912) in terms of its revolutionary origins, and concludes by showing that the Restoration, far from being uniquely Japanese, had many of the characteristics we associate with the great revolutions of England, France, and Russia.


I argue that the fairness of a society affects its level of social trust more than does its homogeneity. Societies with fair procedural rules (democracy), fair administration of rules (freedom from corruption), and fair (relatively equal and unskewed) income distribution produce incentives for trustworthy behavior, develop norms of trustworthiness, and enhance interpersonal trust. Based on a multi-level analysis using the World Values Surveys data that cover 80 countries, I find that (1) freedom from corruption, income equality, and mature democracy are positively associated with trust, while ethnic diversity loses significance once these factors are accounted for; (2) corruption and inequality have an adverse impact on norms and perceptions of trustworthiness; (3) the negative effect of inequality on trust is due to the skewness of income rather than its simple heterogeneity; and (4) the negative effect of minority status is greater in more unequal and undemocratic countries, consistent with the fairness explanation.


Bacterial diarrhoeal diseases have significant influence on global human health, and are a leading cause of preventable death in the developing world. Enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC), pathogenic strains of E. coli that carry potent toxins, have been associated with a high number of large-scale outbreaks caused by contaminated food and water sources. This pathotype produces diarrhoea and haemorrhagic colitis in infected humans, and in some patients leads to the development of haemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), which can result in mortality and chronic kidney disease. A major obstacle to the treatment of EHEC infections is the increased risk of HUS development that is associated with antibiotic treatment, and rehydration and renal support are often the only options available. New treatments designed to prevent or clear E. coli infections and reduce symptoms of illness would therefore have large public health and economic impacts.

The three main aims of this thesis were: to explore mouse models for pre-clinical evaluation in vivo of small compounds that inhibit a major EHEC colonisation factor, to assess the production and role of two proteins considered promising candidates for a broad-spectrum vaccine against pathogenic E. coli, and to investigate a novel compound that has recently been identified as a potential inhibitor of EHEC toxin production.

As EHEC cannot be safely tested in humans due to the risk of HUS development, appropriate small animal models are required for in vivo testing of new drugs. A number of different mouse models have been developed to replicate different features of EHEC pathogenesis, several of which we investigated with a focus on colonisation mediated by the Type III Secretion System (T3SS), a needle-like structure that translocates bacterial proteins into host cells, resulting in a tight, intimate attachment between pathogen and host, aiding colonisation of the gastrointestinal tract. As E. coli models were found not to depend significantly on the T3SS for colonisation, the Citrobacter rodentium model, a natural mouse pathogen closely related to E. coli, was deemed the most suitable mouse model currently available for in vivo testing of T3SS-targeting compounds.

Two bacterial proteins, EaeH (an outer membrane adhesin) and YghJ (a putative secreted
lipoprotein), highly conserved surface-associated proteins recently identified as III
protective antigens against E. coli infection of mice, were explored in order to determine their suitability as candidates for a human vaccine against pathogenic E. coli. We focused on the expression and function of these proteins in the EHEC O157:H7 EDL933 strain and the adherent-invasive E. coli (AIEC) LF82 strain. Although expression of EaeH by other E. coli pathotypes has recently been shown to be upregulated upon contact with host intestinal cells, no evidence of this upregulation could be demonstrated in our strains. Additionally, while YghJ was produced by the AIEC strain, it was not secreted by bacteria under conditions that other YghJ-expressing E. coli pathotypes do, despite the AIEC strain carrying all the genes required to encode the secretion system it is associated with. While our findings indicate that a vaccine that raises antibodies against EaeH and YghJ may have limited effect on the EHEC and AIEC strains we used, recent studies into these proteins in different E. coli pathogens have suggested they are still excellent candidates for a broadly effective vaccine against E. coli.

Finally, we characterised a small lead compound, identified by high-throughput screening as a possible inhibitor of Shiga toxin expression. Shiga toxin production causes both the symptoms of illness and development of HUS, and thus reduction of toxin production, release, or binding to host receptors could therefore be an effective way to treat infections and decrease the risk of HUS. Inhibition of Shiga toxin production by this compound was confirmed, and was shown to be caused by an inhibitory effect on activation of the bacterial SOS response rather than on the Shiga toxin genes themselves. The bacterial target of this compound was identified as RecA, a major regulator of the SOS response, and we hypothesise that the compound binds covalently to its target, preventing oligomerisation of RecA into an activated filament.

Altogether, the results presented here provide an improved understanding of these different approaches to combating EHEC infection, which will aid the development of safe and effective vaccines and anti-virulence treatments against EHEC.


Background Because dietary N-3 fatty acids reduce plasma triglycerides, they may also decrease hepatic triglyceride content. If so, N-3 fatty acids might constitute a therapy for fatty liver. Methods Twenty-two subjects were recruited into a study designed to test the effects of N-3 fatty acids on liver fat content. Seventeen completed the trial that had a sequential design of 4-week placebo followed by an 8-week treatment with 9 g/d of fish oil. Liver fat was measured during placebo and treatment by magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Compliance was assessed by capsule count at the end of each study phase and measurement of fatty acid composition in plasma triglyceride and phospholipid. Plasma lipoproteins and adiponectin were also measured. Results Treatment with fish oils reduced significantly levels of plasma triglyceride by 46% (P <.03), very low-density lipoprotein + intermediate density lipoprotein cholesterol by 21% (P <.03), total apolipoprotein B by 15% (P <.03). In contrast to the changes in plasma triglycerides, hepatic triglyceride content was not significantly reduced by fish oil treatment. Conclusions N-3 fatty acids at high doses lower plasma triglyceride levels, but there are no significant decreases in hepatic content of triglyceride for the group as a whole. Whereas the triglyceride lowering is uniform, the liver response is more variable.


The Oligocene–Miocene transition is characterized by a low degree of biotic turnover (extinction plus origination) in many microfossil groups and especially in planktonic foraminifera. Few species appear, evolve, and disappear across this boundary, and the existence of transitional forms between key species makes biostratigraphic resolution of the boundary interval difficult. The boundary is officially located in the type section using magnetostratigraphic criteria, and the first occurrence (FO) of the planktonic foraminifer Paragloborotalia kugleri is the closest bioevent to the boundary. The identification of supplementary bioevents is therefore important to refine the biostratigraphic resolution of this interval. We describe here a new species of planktonic foraminifer, Catapsydrax indianus, the range of which improves the biostratigraphic resolution across this problematic boundary. In particular, the distribution of this species spans an interval of approximately 5 million years across the Oligocene–Miocene transition from just above the FO of Paragloborotalia pseudokugleri (25.9 Ma) in the late Oligocene Biochron P22 (= Biochron O6) to the FO of Globigerinoides altiaperturus (20.5 Ma) in the early Miocene.

The habitat of this new species is inferred from its oxygen and carbon isotope values by comparison with the other species in a multispecies isotope cross-plot. Our data show that the deepest-dwelling of all the planktonic foraminifera was the genus Catapsydrax, which has relatively positive 18O and negative 13C values. Catapsydrax indianus has isotopic ratios similar to those of the other species in the genus, suggesting a similar habitat.


The paper first recapitulates a point made repeatedly elsewhere (Givon 1981, 1994 ed., 1995, 2001, 2002): that a syntactic typology of any clause-type, including the passive, is meaningless unless clause-types are first characterized as functional domains. Using as examples six widely-attested types of passive clauses, the paper then shows that the relational (GR) properties of those clauses, much like their other structural properties, are completely predictable from the structural properties of their source – non-passive – constructions. Because functional re-analysis is the earliest stage of diachronic change, the diachronic predictability of the structural properties of newly- reanalyzed clauses is most conspicuous at the earlier stages of grammaticalization, when structural re-shaping has not yet taken place. The diachronic determination of syntactic structures thus closely parallels the evolutionary determination of biological structures. An extant ('synchronic') structure in both domains is thus best characterized by the pathway through which it came to be. Consequently, much like in biology, where the most meaningful universals are evolutionary, the most meaningful universals of linguistic structure are diachronic.


This paper is a survey about the uprising of the Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, their evolution, their variety of the application domains of the IoT systems, which includes, but not limits to healthcare domain, smart cities, smart objects, integration of smart sensors, smart home appliances control, etc. and all the technology revolution that this evolution implies and forces to happen. The IoT system's revolution and fast-phased evolution will create and/or cause positive effects in the whole society and technology, like in the case when the IoT domain is redesigning the applied modern healthcare systems, promising and later offering technological, economic, and social benefits. This paper also reviews the state-of-the-art network architectures/platforms employed in the IoT systems, presents different applications, and also the future trends. IoT security and privacy features, including security requirements will be also discussed and presented. Ambient intelligence, and wearables can be leveraged in the IoT healthcare context, sensors are also becoming ubiquitous and very important in everyday life and also generates data at an unprecedented, unseen rate and scale. This article focuses on the current/existing trends in the domain of IoT and on the current stage of development of research for hardware and software solutions, possible future communication capabilities between human beings and machines, and any new technologies that will employ IoT. Future researches on IoT-based systems are based on a set of open issues and challenges; also, there is the vital step from current "Big Data" to "Big Information" that can be improved and faster created with the help and implication of the current and future IoT systems/setups. With the proliferation of IoT, humans will be able to interact with machines/computers and also control a variety of networked electronic devices, including sensors and actuators. Also, the emergence and evolution of wearable Brain-Machine Interfaces (BMIs), employing directly Electroencephalographyc (EEG) signals, can be a key catalyser of this interaction and evolution of IoT. As smart home appliances, smart sensors, smart glasses and wearable EEG/EMG headsets and any other smart objects are appearing in our lives every day, all of them connected or being a member of the IoT systems, it is important to be able to foresee what is lying ahead of us, as a society in view of the fact that their number grows every day. As the gathered data is growing each day, the computation power from the available IoT devices and infrastructure are becoming more important and more utilized.


Europium gallium oxide (EuxGa1-x)2O3 thin films were deposited on sapphire substrates by pulsed laser deposition with varying Eu content from x=2.4 to 20 mol %. The optical and physical effects of high europium concentration on these thin films were studied using photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction (XRD), and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry. PL spectra demonstrate that emission due to the D50 to F7J transitions in Eu3+ grows linearly with Eu content up to 10 mol %. Time-resolved PL indicates decay parameters remain similar for films with up to 10 mol % Eu. At 20 mol %, however, PL intensity decreases substantially and PL decay accelerates, indicative of parasitic energy transfer processes. XRD shows films to be polycrystalline and beta-phase for low Eu compositions. Increasing Eu content beyond 5 mol % does not continue to modify the film structure and thus, changes in PL spectra and decay cannot be attributed to structural changes in the host. These data indicate the optimal dop...


This paper describes the new Fit2Drive (F2D) Year 11 workshop, how it was developed, and the key lessons and challenges learnt during the development process. The development process illustrates how a behaviour change program can be developed from evidence-based research into a successfully delivered secondary school education program. The F2D Year 11 workshop concentrates on personal road safety and responsibility, building resilience and providing strategies so students can become safer on the road, particularly as passengers. This carefully designed peer facilitated workshop includes group discussions, using scenarios to explore strategies to keep young people and their peers safe, role plays to support the development of problem solving skills that lead to safe behaviours, and development of personal passenger safety plans and approaches to promoting road safety across the school. The F2D workshop development translated the findings from the Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety n Queenslandrs (CARRS-Q) research review in terms of priority road safety messages especially for passengers, peer-led discussion issues and how to enact behaviour change in a school setting, to a behaviour change program in action. The development of the curriculum involved input from road safety and educational experts from road safety agencies, Dynamic Outcomes, the F2D Foundation and CARRS-Q. The paper provides an overview of the resulting workshop logic model and curriculum. The curriculum was trialled in three schools and improvements were made after each trial, using the feedback from the F2D peer facilitators and staff and road safety and educational experts. Feedback on the new workshop has been very positive from students, F2D peer facilitators and the F2D Foundation. An evaluation plan accompanies the roll-out of the workshop to all Victorian schools.


Internal and external environments influence holistic well-being as humans live in a constant cycle of self and other regulation. When this process is misguided and the body does not distinguish between what is self and what is not self, it begins to destroy its own bodies' healthy tissue. Autoimmune diseases affect 5-10% of the developed world's populations. When the 80+ autoimmune diseases are combined together, they are the one of the 10 leading causes of death of women under the age of 65. There is no known cure for any autoimmune disease and few studies have been conducted on the emotional and spiritual energetic underpinnings of autoimmune disease. The purpose of this research was to explore the connections between identity, community and thyroid autoimmunity, adding to the emerging and growing understanding of the current epidemic of autoimmunity. The original creation of an arts-based, phenomenological research methodology was presented. Eight participants provided their lived experience in photographs using modified PhotoVoice methods and written reflections through open ended questions in project notebooks. Data was analyzed and represented though narrative methods. Findings support further exploration of mental autoimmunity, the inability to emotionally and spiritually recognize and voice the story of self, and its role in a person's susceptibility to physical autoimmune illness. Implications for clinical practice and future research recommendations were discussed.


This book examines the history of reforms and major state interventions affecting Russian agriculture: the abolition of serfdom in 1861, the Stolypin reforms, the NEP, the Collectivization, Khrushchev reforms, and finally farm enterprise privatization in the early 1990s. It shows a pattern emerging from a political imperative in imperial, Soviet, and post-Soviet regimes, and it describes how these reforms were justified in the name of the national interest during severe crises - rapid inflation, military defeat, mass strikes, rural unrest, and/or political turmoil. It looks at the consequences of adversity in the economic environment for rural behavior after reform and at long-run trends. It has chapters on property rights, rural organization, and technological change. It provides a new database for measuring agricultural productivity from 1861 to 1913 and updates these estimates to the present. This book is a study of the policies aimed at reorganizing rural production and their effectiveness in transforming institutions.


This book focuses on building and maintaining brand community in the emerging, dynamic space of social media. A theoretical model encompassing brand characteristics, relational factors, and characteristics of the brand user community is used as a structure to explain the various aspects of online brand communities. Furthermore, the authors discuss how online brand communities differ from and can be used to complement traditional, face-to-face brand communities. Brand managers, social media managers, and other members of the brand team will find this book useful for strategic decision-making in both building and maintaining brand communities. In addition, this book will serve as a practical guide for working professionals enrolled in executive education degree programs as these programs continue to be developed in universities throughout the world.


The prototype of a workflow system for the submission of content to a digital object repository is here presented. It is based entirely on open-source standard components and features a service-oriented architecture. The front-end consists of Java Business Process Management (jBPM), Java Server Faces (JSF), and Java Server Pages (JSP). A Fedora Repository and a mySQL data base management system serve as a back-end. The communication between front-end and back-end uses a SOAP minimal binding stub. We describe the design principles and the construction of the prototype and discuss the possibilities and limitations of work ow creation by administrators. The code of the prototype is open-source and can be retrieved in the project escipub at this http URL


The natural beauty of coral reefs attracts millions of tourists worldwide resulting in substantial revenues for the adjoining economies. Although their visual appearance is a pivotal factor attracting humans to coral reefs current monitoring protocols exclusively target biogeochemical parameters, neglecting changes in their aesthetic appearance. Here we introduce a standardized computational approach to assess coral reef environments based on 109 visual features designed to evaluate the aesthetic appearance of art. The main feature groups include color intensity and diversity of the image, relative size, color, and distribution of discernable objects within the image, and texture. Specific coral reef aesthetic values combining all 109 features were calibrated against an established biogeochemical assessment (NCEAS) using machine learning algorithms. These values were generated for ∼2,100 random photographic images collected from 9 coral reef locations exposed to varying levels of anthropogenic influence across 2 ocean systems. Aesthetic values proved accurate predictors of the NCEAS scores (root mean square error < 5 for N ≥ 3) and significantly correlated to microbial abundance at each site. This shows that mathematical approaches designed to assess the aesthetic appearance of photographic images can be used as an inexpensive monitoring tool for coral reef ecosystems. It further suggests that human perception of aesthetics is not purely subjective but influenced by inherent reactions towards measurable visual cues. By quantifying aesthetic features of coral reef systems this method provides a cost efficient monitoring tool that targets one of the most important socioeconomic values of coral reefs directly tied to revenue for its local population.


Background and Purpose: Research suggests that female veterans of the United States military are more likely than their male counterparts to report mental health concerns such as posttraumatic stress, depression and suicidal thoughts. The purpose of this study was to explore the interaction of service era (time period during which active duty service occurred), social support, and beliefs about mental health care utility as they relate to depression in female veterans in the hope of improving health programming for this priority population. Materials and Methods: Secondary analysis of data from the 2012 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS) conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) involved logistic regression analysis of a large, nationally-sourced sample of 54,060 veterans, of whom 8.5% were women (n = 4,544). Correlations were found between social support, service era, and treatment stigma variables as they predicted outcome variables of diagnosed and undiagnosed depression. Results: Of the nationally-sourced sample of 4,544 female veterans, 25.5% reported a medically-diagnosed depression condition of mild, moderate, or major severity. Of veterans in the sample who did not already have a depression diagnosis, 12% indicated the presence of symptoms that indicate undiagnosed depression of mild, moderate, or major severity. Female veterans from recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were more likely than older peers to be struggling with symptoms that may indicate undiagnosed depression or to have a depression diagnosis. Conclusion: The findings of this study aided in identifying three demographic and behavioural health predictors of diagnosed depression and one predictor of undiagnosed depression in the female military veteran population that demonstrated both practical and statistical significance.


There are potential advantages of housing primates in mixed species exhibits for both the visiting public and the primates themselves. If the primates naturally associate in the wild, it may be more educational and enjoyable for the public to view. Increases in social complexity and stimulation may be enriching for the primates. However, mixed species exhibits might also create welfare problems such as stress from interspecific aggression. We present data on the behavior of single and mixed species groups of capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) and squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus) housed at the Living Links to Human Evolution Research Centre in the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland's Edinburgh Zoo. These species associate in the wild, gaining foraging benefits and decreased predation. But Cebus are also predators themselves with potential risks for the smaller Saimiri. To study their living together we took scan samples at ≥15 min intervals on single (n=109) and mixed species groups (n=152), and all occurrences of intraspecific aggression and interspecific interactions were recorded. We found no evidence of chronic stress and Saimiri actively chose to associate with Cebus. On 79% of scans, the two species simultaneously occupied the same part of their enclosure. No vertical displacement was observed. Interspecific interactions were common (>2.5/hr), and equally divided among mildly aggressive, neutral, and affiliative interactions such as play. Only one aggressive interaction involved physical contact and was non‐injurious. Aggressive interactions were mostly (65%) displacements and vocal exchanges, initiated almost equally by Cebus and Saimiri. Modifications to the enclosure were successful in reducing these mildly aggressive interactions with affiliative interactions increasing in frequency and diversity. Our data suggest that in carefully designed, large enclosures, naturally associating monkeys are able to live harmoniously and are enriched by each other. Am. J. Primatol. 72:33–47, 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


This paper describes common insect pests in forage alfalfa in Bulgaria and their seasonal dynamics. The method of sweeping with the entomological net was used. The degree of infestation (attack) of Otiorrhynchus ligustici was established by taking soil monoliths. The most common insect pests of alfalfa from order Coleoptera are Hypera postica, Sitona spp., Apion seniculus, and Otiorrhynchus ligustici. The next species belongs to orders Hemiptera and Thysanoptera. Therioaphis maculata was the main harmful specie, followed by Acyrthosiphon pisum from Aphidodea, as well Adelphocoris lineolatus and Lygus rugulipennis (Hemiptera – Heteroptera). Economic importance species from Hemiptera: Fulgorormorpha and Cicadomorpha were Empoasca pteridis and Agallia ribauti, as well Thrips tabaci and T. atratus (order Thysanoptera). Apion seniculus is reported for the first time in our country as harmful species in alfalfa. The main insect pests, depending on the order to which they belong, were found in high numbers through the different regrowth of alfalfa vegetation period. The determination of the population dynamics of economically important pest species in the alfalfa grown for forage, helps determine the most appropriate time for control and management.


Differential Evolution is a simple, fast, and robust evolutionary algorithm that has proven effective in determining the global optimum for several difficult single-objective optimization problems. In this paper, the Differential Evolution algorithm is extended to multiobjective optimization problems by using a Pareto-based approach. The algorithm performs well wheh applied to several test optimization problems from the literature.


Although childbirth is considered to be a normal physiological process, complications leading to postpartum maternal mortality and morbidity may arise in 20% of the cases; it can affect the mother, foetus or both and may be long or short term. The aim of the study was to assess practices of midwives on the care of postpartum women who experienced complicated labour and delivery from time of admission to the postnatal wards until their discharge. A descriptive cross sectional survey was conducted at the University Teaching Hospital – Women and Newborn in Lusaka. 51 midwives working in postnatal wards participated in the study. Data were collected using a self administered questionnaire with a 4 point likert scale and some closed and open ended questionnaires. SPSS version 20 statistical package was used to analyze data, expressed as descriptive summary measures. Majority of the midwives (78.9%) reported that the care they provided to postpartum women who had complicated labour and delivery was not comprehensive and satisfactory due to shortage of staff and high workload, inadequate materials and equipment to use and midwives' lack of motivation and bad attitude. Midwives scored themselves high in observing and assessing the postpartum women while they rated themselves low in performing for the women self-care activities. There is need to improve the care rendered to the postpartum women with complicated labour and delivery in order to promote good health and to prevent postpartum complications.

 Key words: Postpartum mothers/women, postnatal care, complicated labour and delivery, self- reported practices, midwives, hospital care.


It is aimed to deliberate the nature of relation between theory and practice in this article, and focused on importance the educational theory to educational practice, and the educational practice to educational theory. It is assumed that theory as a production style of the philosophy itself, and argued that has been found main theory essentialist, empirist and humanistic in the history of philosophy. The theoretic styles reflects on education as rationalist, idealist, pragmatist, existiantialist and hermeneutical educational theory. It is also aimed to form a stage system between philosophy and practice. Theory is somewhere which mediates philosophy and practice, it is the consciousness of practice. Also, educational theory mediates philosophy of education and educational practice. It guides educational practice. As it moves from the philosophy of education and educational practice, philosopy becomes more and more concrete. There is a mutual correlation between theory and practice. Theory improves practice and practice improves theory, as well. Regarding the above mentioned as its subject matter, this article takes attention to the significance of the theory of education in terms of educational practice, and the significance of educational practice in terms of edicational theory. And it emhasizes the fact that an effective educational action is based on the ideal synhesis of theory and practice. It also investigates whether there is a difference between educational theory and philosophy of education or not


'All the privilege I claim for my own sex...is that of loving longest, when existence or when hope is gone.'. Anne Elliot's heartfelt words strike the keynote of Jane Austen's last completed novel. It features a heroine older and wiser than her predecessors in earlier books, and its tone is more intimate and sober as Jane Austen unfolds a simple love-story. She described her heroine in a letter as 'almost too good for me': Anne Elliot's goodness is not of the cloying kind, but an unsentimental quality that, combined with stoicism and integrity, enables her to find happiness in love after seven years when it seemed she had for ever put an end to such a prospect.


Cluster-weighted models (CWMs) are mixtures of regression models with random covariates. However, besides having recently become rather popular in statistics and data mining, there is still a lack of support for CWMs within the most popular statistical suites. In this paper, we introduce flexCWM , an R package specifically conceived for fitting CWMs. The package supports modeling the conditioned response variable by means of the most common distributions of the exponential family and by the t distribution. Covariates are allowed to be of a mixed-type and parsimonious modeling of multivariate normal covariates, based on the eigenvalue decomposition of the component covariance matrices, is supported. Furthermore, either the response or the covariates distributions can be omitted, yielding to mixtures of distributions and mixtures of regression models with fixed covariates, respectively. The expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm is used to obtain maximum-likelihood estimates of the parameters and likelihood-based information criteria are adopted to select the number of groups and/or the parsimonious model. For the component regression coefficients, standard errors and significance tests are also provided. Parallel computation can be used on multicore PCs and computer clusters, when several models have to be fitted.


This article highlights the results of a mechanochemical modification method of epoxy composite materials and coatings on their base. It proves the mechanochemical activated components of composition to be the most acceptable for structuring when producing composite materials. It also states the increase of mechanical properties of epoxy heterocomposite coatings with mechanically activated particles by 25%-40%.


Organogenesis depends on orchestrated interactions between individual cells and morphogenically relevant cues at the tissue level. This is true for the heart, whose function critically relies on well-ordered communication between neighbouring cells, which is established and fine-tuned during development. For an integrated understanding of the development of structure and function, we need to move from isolated snap-shot observations of either microscopic or macroscopic parameters to simultaneous and, ideally continuous, cell-to-organ scale imaging. We introduce cell-accurate three-dimensional Ca2+-mapping of all cells in the entire heart during the looping stage in live embryonic zebrafish, using high-speed light sheet microscopy and tailored image processing and analysis. We show how myocardial region-specific heterogeneity in cell function emerges during early development and how structural patterning goes hand-in-hand with functional maturation of the entire heart. Our method opens the way to systematic, scale-bridging, in vivo studies of vertebrate organogenesis by cell-accurate structure-function mapping across entire organs.


IT strategic alignment remains a key concern for business executives over decades. Unfortunately, prior empirical studies tend to ignore the relevance of cultural and capability dimensions to IT strategic alignment. Consequently, whether IT-related orientation and capabilities are adequate for attaining organizational goals and leading to business values still requires exploration. This study adopts three perspectives to understand why and how IT strategic alignment can be achieved through IT-related orientation and capabilities in program (i.e. project portfolio), management, and flexibility. This study develops a model to examine the relationships among such IT-related orientation, IT capabilities, IT strategic alignment, and subsequent business performance. Accordingly, seven hypotheses were proposed and the model was tested with Partial Least Square technique based on the data collected from a survey of 209 manufacturing firms in Taiwan. The results support our model with seven hypotheses confirmed. By focusing on relevant IT-related orientation, IT capabilities, and IT strategic alignment, this study extends the literatures on program (project portfolio) management, IT capability, and strategic management by manifesting the effects the studied constructs from the bridging, transformative, and adaptive perspectives. Implications of the results are provided and limitations and future research directions are discussed.


Abstract. Eccentrically braced frames are one of the most popular systems in buildings because they provide both high stiffness and ductility to the structure. Other systems such as moment frames and concentrically braced frames do not usually provide desirable stiffness and ductility, respectively. Steel shear walls are also popular systems in steel buildings; however, they can be expensive due to the large amount of steel used in these systems. Therefore, it is of interest to investigate new types of eccentrically braced frames. In this paper a truss-shaped brace is proposed and its behavior under cyclic loading in an eccentrically braced frame is numerically investigated using finite element software. Different cross-sections are implemented in the trussshaped brace and the effect of the cross-section on the behavior of the frame is studied and compared to the reference specimen with conventional configuration. The results of this study show that hollow square cross-section with 100 mm width and 4 mm thickness had the best performance in terms of strength, absorbed energy and pinching compared to other specimens.


This work is a case study focusing on the long-term unique evolutionary trajectory of the prehistoric Liaoxi area, Northeast China. The emergence and dramatic decline of the Hongshan complex societies forms the core of this interpretation. Research on household and community levels are based previously excavated typical sites. The basic data for the spatial study at the regional level comes from the authors survey in the Lower Bang River and Upper Laohushan River valleys, Aohan Banner, Inner Mongolia. The structure of the work follows the chronology of the prehistoric cultures in Liaoxi.


The incidence of atrial fibrillation (AF) is higher in patients with diabetes. The goal of this study was to assess if the addition of plasma lipids to traditional risk factors could improve the ability to detect and predict future AF in patients with type 2 diabetes. Logistic regression models were used to identify lipids associated with AF/future AF from plasma lipids (n=316) measured from participants from the ADVANCE trial (n=3,772). To gain mechanistic insight, follow-up lipid analysis was undertaken in a mouse model which has an insulin-resistant heart and is susceptible to AF. Sphingolipids, cholesteryl esters and phospholipids were associated with AF prevalence, whereas two GM3 ganglioside species were associated with future AF. For AF detection and prediction, addition of 6 and 3 lipids, respectively, to a base model (12 conventional risk factors) increased the C-statistics (detection:0.661 to 0.725; prediction:0.674 to 0.715), and categorical net reclassification indices. GM3(d18:1/24:1) was lower in patients who developed AF, improved the C-statistic for the prediction of future AF, and was lower in the plasma of the mouse model susceptible to AF. This study demonstrates that plasma lipids have the potential to improve both the detection and prediction of AF in patients with diabetes.


Feature Issue on Photonics in SwitchingOptical burst switching (OBS) is a collision-based scheme in nature. It is a challenge to provide absolute quality of service (QoS), such as a guaranteed loss rate, for critical applications. Existing research often focuses on modifying the parameters or operations of the whole network, but there is hardly any work on controlling the loss rate based on operations at edge nodes only. We design an edge-based controlling scheme to achieve a guaranteed loss performance for an optical burst flow. Starting with the analysis of traffic characteristics of burst flows that are assembled by different algorithms, we investigate the relationship of major assembly parameters and the loss performances of different flows. Several loss predictors and assembly adjusters are designed in order to achieve a desired loss rate for a burst flow. Our control system does not affect the packet transmission load, which is especially useful for some critical applications such as multimedia streams. Our design can be applied to various networks using different assembly algorithms, signaling protocols, contention resolution methods, or varying network inputs. Compared with existing control schemes for OBS networks, our method is simple, efficient, and distributed for easy implementation using the information at edge nodes. The simulation results demonstrate that our system has an accurate and stable operation.


The C57BL/6J mouse displays glucose intolerance and reduced insulin secretion. The genetic locus underlying this phenotype was mapped to nicotinamide nucleotide transhydrogenase (Nnt) on mouse chromosome 13, a nuclear-encoded mitochondrial protein involved in β-cell mitochondrial metabolism. C57BL/6J mice have a naturally occurring in-frame five-exon deletion in Nnt that removes exons 7–11. This results in a complete absence of Nnt protein in these mice. We show that transgenic expression of the entire Nnt gene in C57BL/6J mice rescues their impaired insulin secretion and glucose-intolerant phenotype. This study provides direct evidence that Nnt deficiency results in defective insulin secretion and inappropriate glucose homeostasis in male C57BL/6J mice.


We contribute to research on the democratic role of middle classes. Our paper distinguishes between middle classes emerging autonomously during gradual capitalist development and those fabricated rapidly as part of state-led modernization. To make the case for a conceptual distinction between these groups within one national setting, we employ author-assembled historical district data, survey, and archival materials for pre-Revolutionary Russia and its feudal estates. Our analysis reveals that the bourgeois estate of meshchane covaries with post-communist democratic competitiveness and media freedoms, our proxies of regional democratic variations. We propose two causal pathways explaining the puzzling persistence of social structure despite the Bolsheviks' leveling ideology and post-communist autocratic consolidation: (a) processes at the juncture of familial channels of human capital transmission and the revolutionaries' modernization drive and (b) entrepreneurial value transmission outside of state policy. Our findings help refine recent work on political regime orientations of public-sector-dependent societies subjected to authoritarian modernization.


Abstract Although spatial scale, upstream–downstream gradients, environmental variability, and floodplain connectivity and complexity have been recognized as integral components of our understanding of riverine pattern and process, aquatic invertebrate community structure across lateral gradients from headwaters to the lowland of a river has received little empirical documentation. Aquatic invertebrate density, distribution, and richness were investigated at 29 study sites distributed laterally (main channel–floodplain) among 6 geomorphologically distinct river reaches from the headwaters to near the mouth of one of the last seminatural river corridors draining the European Alps, the Tagliamento River in northeastern Italy. Community relationships were examined using multivariate and diversity analyses to investigate patterns of taxonomic richness. Diversity parameters were scaled at the site, reach, and catchment levels to better understand local and regional patterns. Mean invertebrate density increased from 7484 ± 2480 (±1 SE) individuals/m2 in the headwaters to 98,811 ± 18,037 individuals/m2 on the lowland floodplain. Crustacea, Coleoptera, and Ephemeroptera richness increased and nonchironomid Diptera and Plecoptera richness declined along the corridor. Richness (α diversity) and turnover (β diversity) showed no consistent increase or decrease along connectivity gradients within geomorphic reaches along the river corridor, possibly because each reach had unique characteristics. α diversity was similar among geomorphic reaches along the corridor, whereas β diversity between reaches increased as a function of distance between them. Direct gradient analysis indicated high taxa-to-environment concordance along lateral (i.e., floodplain water bodies) and longitudinal (upstream–downstream) dimensions and indicated distinct floodplain communities. These results demonstrate how lateral gradients (floodplain dimension) structure zoobenthic communities and how this structure can change along the longitudinal dimension (upstream–downstream). Our results highlight the importance of off-channel environments to macroinvertebrate community structure and diversity. Conservation, restoration, and preservation measures must consider the lateral dimension along river corridors as integral to maintaining diversity and community structure.


We propose energy-saving algorithms to improve the energy efficiency of hybrid fiber coaxial (HFC) networks that support DOCSIS (Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification) 3.0 standard. The algorithms incorporate a traffic-aware approach and modify the operation statuses of the two primary network elements, the cable modem (CM) and the cable modem termination system (CMTS), dynamically. For the CM-side operation, we first propose a basic algorithm that can optimize the CMs' energy efficiency, regardless of significant increase of the packet delay and the number of operation changes (NoOC). We then propose two modified approaches to reduce the packet delay and NoOC while saving energy. Simulations with these algorithms show 37.5%-42.2% energy saving on the CM side, compared to the traditional case where the CMs' operation statuses are static. Next, we propose a CMTS-side energy-saving algorithm to find the actual connection mapping between the CM channels and CMTS ports. The proposed algorithm tries to support CM connections with minimal numbers of CMTS ports. To further improve the energy efficiency of the CMTS, we design a readjustment approach that can reorganize CM connections on CMTS ports based on their loads. Simulation results show that 31.08%-32.61% energy saving can be achieved on the CMTS in total. Hence, the proposed algorithms achieve effective energy saving on both the CM and CMTS sides.


Background: Inadequate data is available regarding the patients' perspective of complications following total knee arthroplasty. A recent physiotherapy feasibility trial provided opportunity to explore patients' perspective of complications following total knee arthroplasty, and to reflect upon the extent to which these concur with the Knee Society's new Standardized List and Definitions of complications.
Purposes: 1. To explore if self report patient data collected post-operatively would provide a different picture of complications than is usually reported using data from medical notes. 2. To develop and describe an approach for a classification system to measure and report post-operative complications that is relevant for physiotherapists, surgeons and patients.
Methods: Prospective survey of patients' self reported complications and retrospective comparison of patient and medical record accounts of complications was performed during a prospective single blind randomised clinical trial (n=107). Patients were asked to self report complications at 3 and 12 months follow ups. Medical notes of patients reporting major specific complications were examined. Descriptive statistics were used. Self report data was classified into major and minor surgical and non-surgical complications.
Results: 12% (n=11/96) of participants self reported a total of 17 major complications at 3 months and 23% (n=22/96) reported 24 major complications at 12 months. 58% (n=56/96) reported 83 further complications. 38% (n=36/96) participants reported no further complications. Self reported data described greater variety regarding complications than previously seen. Data varied according to source (self report versus medical notes) and differed widely from the Knee Society's list. A possible classification system is presented and discussed.
Conclusions: Data are presented to stimulate debate regarding how complications should be defined and reported following interventions. Complications following arthroplasty are still being defined and measured by expert opinion. Discussion is needed regarding the collection, interpretation and relevance of complications data to both patients and all healthcare professionals.


The gruesome story of the devastation of buffalo herds in the late nineteenth century has become uncomfortably familiar. A less familiar story, but a hopeful one for the future, is Ken Zontek's account of Native peoples' efforts to repopulate the Plains with a healthy, viable bison population. Interspersing scientific hypothesis with Native oral traditions and interviews, Buffalo Nation provides a brief history of bison and human interaction from the Paleolithic era to present preservation efforts. Zontek's history of bison restoration efforts is also a history of North American Native peoples' pursuit of political and cultural autonomy, revealing how Native peoples' ability to help the bison has fluctuated with their overall struggle. Beginning in the 1870s, Native North Americans established captive bison breeding programs despite the Wounded Knee Massacre and a massive onslaught on Native cultural and religious practices. These preservation efforts were so successful that a significant percentage of bison today carry the bloodlines of these original Native-sponsored herds. At the end of the twentieth century, more than fifty tribes banded together to form the Intertribal Bison Cooperative. This group has made significant progress in restoring bison herds in the United States, while Canadian First Nations work with national parks and other government entities to select and manage free-ranging herds. Buffalo Nation offers insights into the ways that the Native North American effort to restore the buffalo nation inspires discourse in cultural perseverance, environmentalism, politics, regionalism, spirituality, and the very essence of human-animal interaction.


Graph kernels are applied heavily for the classification of structured data. However, their expressivity is assessed almost exclusively from experimental studies and there is no theoretical justification why one kernel is in general preferable over another. We introduce a theoretical framework for investigating the expressive power of graph kernels, which is inspired by concepts from the area of property testing. We introduce the notion of distinguishability of a graph property by a graph kernel. For several established graph kernels we show that they cannot distinguish essential graph properties. In order to overcome this, we consider a kernel based on k-disc frequencies. We show that this efficiently computable kernel can distinguish fundamental graph properties. Finally, we obtain learning guarantees for nearest neighbor classifiers in our framework.


This communication documents one of the earliest verifiable cases of human paralysis associated with severe spinal pathology. A series of skeletal abnormalities is described for a young adult male (M9) from a Southeast Asian Neolithic community. Differential diagnosis suggests that M9 suffered from a severely disabling congenital fusion of the spine (Klippel–Feil Syndrome, Type III), resulting in child-onset lower body paralysis at a minimum (maximally quadriplegia). M9 experienced severe, most probably total, incapacitation for at least a decade prior to death. In the prehistoric context, this individual's condition would have rendered him completely dependent on others for survival.