Foliar fungal diseases especially late leaf spot (LLS) and rust are the important production constraints across the peanut growing regions of the world. A set of 340 diverse peanut genotypes that includes accessions from gene bank of International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), elite breeding lines from the breeding program, and popular cultivars were screened for LLS and rust resistance and yield traits across three locations in India under natural and artificial disease epiphytotic conditions. The study revealed significant variation among the genotypes for LLS and rust resistance at different environments. Combined analysis of variance revealed significant environment (E) and genotype × environment (G×E) interactions for both the diseases indicating differential response of genotypes in different environments. The present study reported 31 genotypes as resistant to LLS and 66 to rust across the locations at 90 DAS with maturity duration 103 to 128 days. Twenty-eight genotypes showed resistance to both the diseases across the locations, of which 19 derived from A. cardenasii, five from A. hypogaea, and four from A. villosa. Site regression and Genotype by Genotype x Environment (GGE) biplot analysis identified eight genotypes as stable for LLS, 24 for rust and 14 for pod yield under disease pressure across the environments. Best performing environment specific genotypes were also identified. Nine genotypes resistant to LLS and rust showed 77% to 120% increase in pod yield over control under disease pressure with acceptable pod and kernel features that can be used as potential parents in LLS and rust resistance breeding. Pod yield increase as a consequence of resistance offered to foliar fungal diseases suggests the possibility of considering 'foliar fungal disease resistance' as a must-have trait in all the peanut cultivars that will be released for cultivation in rainfed ecologies in Asia and Africa. The phenotypic data of the present study will be used for designing genomic selection prediction models in peanut.


Case, Cotter, and Gabriel investigate the risk–return relationship in the determination of housing asset pricing. In so doing, they evaluate the behavioral hypotheses advanced by Case and Shiller in studies of boom and post-boom housing markets. The authors specify a multifactor housing assetpricing model and evaluate whether the market factor and other measures of risk, including idiosyncratic risk, momentum, and MSA size effects, have explanatory power for metropolitan- specific housing returns. Further, they test the robustness of the asset pricing results to inclusion of controls for socioeconomic variables commonly represented in the house price literature, including changes in employment, affordability, and foreclosure incidence, and find a sizable and statistically significant influence of the market factor on MSA house price returns. Moreover, they show that market betas have varied substantially over time. Results are largely robust to the inclusion of other explanatory variables, including standard measures of risk and other housing market fundamentals. Additional tests of model validity using the Fama–MacBeth framework offer further strong support of a positive risk-and-return relationship in housing. Case, Cotter, and Gabriel's findings are supportive of the application of a housing investment risk–return framework in explanation of the variation in the metro-area cross section and time series of U.S. house price returns. Further, results strongly corroborate the Case–Shiller survey research, which indicates the importance of speculative forces in the determination of U.S. housing returns.


Background There are substantial socioeconomic inequalities in functional limitations in old age. Resilience may offer new insights into these inequalities by identifying constellations of factors that protect some individuals from developing functional limitations despite socioeconomic adversity. Methods Data from 1973 participants in the Medical Research Council National Survey of Health and Development (Great Britain), followed from birth until age 60–64, were used. Functional limitations were defined as reporting difficulty with at least 1 of 16 activities at age 60–64. Lifetime socioeconomic adversity was based on socioeconomic trajectories, categorised into three adversity levels. Analysis of covariance and regression models were used to compare psychosocial factors and health-related behaviours between a 'Resilient' group (high adversity but no functional limitations) and five groups with other combinations of adversity and limitations. Results Prevalence of functional limitations in high, intermediate and low adversity groups was 44%, 30% and 23% in men, and 61%, 55% and 49% in women, respectively. Compared with the other high adversity group, the resilient group had a lower prevalence of childhood illness (12% vs 19%) and obesity throughout ages 43–64 (70% vs 55%). Partially adjusted models also showed higher adolescent self-management, lower neuroticism, higher prevalence of volunteer work and physical activity (age 60–64) and lower prevalence of smoking (age 43) in the resilient. Marital status and contact frequency were not associated with resilience. Conclusion Results suggest protection against childhood illness, health-behavioural factors and self-regulation as targets for interventions across life that may particularly benefit those with long-term exposure to socioeconomic adversity.


Hydroxylated polybrominated diphenyl ethers (OH-BDEs) are a new class of contaminants of emerging concern, but the relative roles of natural and anthropogenic sources remain uncertain. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are used as brominated flame retardants, and they are a potential source of OH-BDEs via oxidative transformations. OH-BDEs are also natural products in marine systems. In this study, OH-BDEs were measured in water and sediment of freshwater and coastal systems along with the anthropogenic wastewater-marker compound triclosan and its photoproduct dioxin, 2,8-dichlorodibenzo-p-dioxin. The 6-OH-BDE 47 congener and its brominated dioxin (1,3,7-tribromodibenzo-p-dioxin) photoproduct were the only OH-BDE and brominated dioxin detected in surface sediments from San Francisco Bay, the anthropogenically impacted coastal site, where levels increased along a north-south gradient. Triclosan, 6-OH-BDE 47, 6-OH-BDE 90, 6-OH-BDE 99, and (only once) 6'-OH-BDE 100 were detected in two sediment cores from San Francisco Bay. The occurrence of 6-OH-BDE 47 and 1,3,7-tribromodibenzo-p-dioxin sediments in Point Reyes National Seashore, a marine system with limited anthropogenic impact, was generally lower than in San Francisco Bay surface sediments. OH-BDEs were not detected in freshwater lakes. The spatial and temporal trends of triclosan, 2,8-dichlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, OH-BDEs, and brominated dioxins observed in this study suggest that the dominant source of OH-BDEs in these systems is likely natural production, but their occurrence may be enhanced in San Francisco Bay by anthropogenic activities.


The work contained herein sought to combine soluble extracellular matrices (ECMs) derived from decellularized musculoskeletal tissues with biomimetic scaffolds for the purpose of orthopaedic tissue engineering. More broadly, tissue engineering combines cells, scaffolds, and biomolecules (e.g., growth factors and cytokines) to restore or replace biological tissues. Scaffolds derived from decellularized tissues provide cells with the biophysical and biochemical motifs that constitute the ECM of the native tissue, in turn promoting homologous (i.e., tissue-specific) cell phenotypes. However, decellularized whole tissues are limited in clinical use due to poor cell infiltration and constrained geometries. On the other hand, decellularized tissues can be pulverized or solubilized to theoretically provide a tissue-specific supplement that, in combination with biomimetic scaffolds, promotes homologous neotissue formation in a tissue defect regardless of shape or size. Nevertheless, the retention of tissue-specific bioactivity following solubilization of ECMs remains uncertain. In particular, few studies have explored the tissue-specific bioactivity of soluble ECM derived from decellularized musculoskeletal tissues.

In this thesis, tendon, hyaline cartilage, and knee menisci were decellularized and solubilized through one of two methods – (1) urea extraction or (2) pepsin digestion. When added as medium supplements to in vitro cultures of human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) grown on two-dimensional (2D) plastic or as 3D MSC pellets, only urea-extracted ECM fractions promoted tissue-specific differentiation. Urea-extracted fractions of ECM derived from the inner and outer halves of the meniscus exerted region-specific effects, in agreement with the regional variations in ultrastructure, biochemical composition, and cell phenotype seen in native menisci. The soluble ECMs further enhanced tissue-specific differentiation when combined with biomimetic scaffolds, including aligned electrospun nanofibers to mimic tendon and photocrosslinkable hydrogels to mimic hyaline cartilage and inner meniscus. Additionally, soluble ECMs interacted synergistically with transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) when provided as an exogenous supplement. Taken together, the work contained herein begins to elucidate the mechanisms by which soluble ECMs promote tissue specific effects and provides support for their use in orthopaedic tissue engineering.


From crab divination in the Cameroon to friction oracles in the Congo Basin, from reading cast objects in Mozambique to spirit possession in Cote d'Ivoire, from Sudanese ebony diviners to South African Xhosa healers, divination systems throughout Africa serve their communities by answering questions and resolving problems. Divination helps people chart a course in their lives through a deeper understanding of past and present. This important book reveals the extraordinary diversity and complexity of African divination systems, focusing on self-knowledge, social reality, and intercultural and historical relations. (Series: African Studies / Afrikanische Studien - Vol. 50)


The control of flexible mechanical systems has been extensively studied in a variety of fields. For mechanical systems with collocated sensors and actuators, the use of symmetric controllers is known to be effective. The symmetric controller guarantees the robust stability of the closed-loop system irrespective of the system parameters by virtue of the structure of the dynamical equation having positive definite or semidefinite symmetric coefficient matrices. Although this controller is superior to existing parametric approaches, systematic procedures for obtaining specific control performance other than the stability of the closed-loop system have not yet been fully established. This paper proposes an optimal design method for symmetric controllers in the sense of the H infin norm by solving the linear matrix inequalities reduced from the bounded real lemma under the symmetry constraint. This method is then extended to static output feedback control and gain-scheduled control. Finally, the design method is applied to a flexible spacecraft attitude control problem, and its validity is confirmed.


The development of toxicity to the fluoride ion (F) may be complex and multifactorial with a number of pathophysiological pathways being possible, with the potential for interactions between toxins involving additivity, synergism, and antagonism, and with a number of other factors having predisposing and protective effects. In addition to cognitive impairment with a reduced intelligence quotient (IQ) in children developing through other mechanisms such as disturbed thyroid hormone metabolism and sonic hedgehog signalling, other pathophysiological factors such as reduced brain glucose uptake following a fluoride-induced reduction in insulin secretion may contribute. Environmental contamination with cadmium in a coal combustion fluorosis-affected rural area within China's Three Gorges region may contribute to the dental and skeletal health problems in the population and the possibility of interactions between Cd and F affecting cognitive functioning requires further investigation. The propensity for the development of toxicity to F may involve interactions with a number of other factors as well as the levels of F exposure.


Our current understanding of the complex cellular interactions required for immune responses has come largely from in vitro manipulation or from snapshots of events within fixed tissues. Three reports now describe real-time analysis of immune cell responses within living tissues (see the Perspective by von Adrian). Using two-photon technology to compare migration of T and B cells within organized lymphoid tissue, Miller et al. observed that T cells roam considerably further and at faster rates than B cells. This explorative behavior shifted toward focused clustering upon inclusion of antigen. Stoll et al. used modified single-photon confocal imaging to investigate interactions of naïve T cells with antigen on dendritic cell (DC) in lymph nodes. Extended periods of connection, with the formation of immune synapses and eventual departure of activated T cells, were observed in the presence of antigen-loaded DCs. Bousso et al. used two-photon imaging to study thymocyte interactions with thymic stromal cells in a reaggregated thymic organ culture. Recognition events that resulted in positive selection of thymocytes promoted thymocyte motility and increased the duration of thymocyte-thymic stromal cell contacts. U. H. von Andrian, T cell activation in six dimensions. Science 296, 1815-1817 (2002). [Summary] [Full Text] M. J. Miller, S. H. Wei, I. Parker, M. D. Cahalan, Two-photon imaging of lymphocyte motility and antigen response in intact lymph node. Science 296, 1869-1873 (2002). [Abstract] [Full Text] S. Stoll, J. Delon, T. M. Brotz, R. N. Germain, Dynamic imaging of T cell-dendritic cell interactions in lymph nodes. Science 296, 1873-1876 (2002). [Abstract] [Full Text] P. Bousso, N. R. Bhakta, R. S. Lewis, E. Robey, Dynamics of thymocyte-stromal cell interactions visualized by two-photon microscopy. Science 296, 1876-1880 (2002). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Proliferation of QoS-sensitive client-server Internet applications such as high-quality audio, video-on-demand, e-commerce, and commercial Web hosting has generated an impetus to provide performance guarantees. These applications require a guaranteed minimum amount of resources to operate acceptably to the users, thus calling for QoS-provisioning mechanisms. One good place to locate such mechanisms is in server communication subsystems. Server-side communication subsystems manage an increasing number of connection end-points, thus readily controlling important bottleneck resources. We propose, implement, and evaluate a novel communication server architecture that maximizes the aggregate utility of QoS-sensitive connections for a community of clients even in the case of overload. A contribution of this architecture is that it manages QoS from the user space and is transparent to the application. It does not require modifications to the OS kernel, which improves portability and reduces development cost. Results from an experimental evaluation on a microkernel indicate that it achieves end-system overload protection and traffic prioritization, improves insulation between independent clients, adapts to offered load, and enhances aggregate service utility.


The report shows that simple LbL deposition of positively charged chitosan and negatively charged heparin can be used to efficiently modify the native surface of both NiTi and Ti without any previous treatments. Moreover, mineralization of the polymer multilayers with calcium phosphate leads to surfaces with low contact angles around 70 and 20° for NiTi and Ti, respectively. This suggests that a polymer multilayer/calcium phosphate hybrid coating could be useful for making NiTi or Ti implants that are at the same time antibacterial (via the chitosan), suppress blood clot formation (via the heparin), and favor fast endothelialization (via the improved surface hydrophilicity compared to the respective neat material).


Background -
Stroke is the third most common cause of death in the world and is projected to be the second leading cause by the year 2020. Although rates of stroke mortality have decreased in high income countries (HICs) in recent decades, the burden of stroke may be increasing in low and middle income countries (LMICs) but information is scarce. To address this critical lack of data for Viet Nam, five studies of stroke occurrence, costs of treatment and short-term outcomes were conducted.
Methods -
The first study involved surveillance of 5,017 admissions of stroke patients over 12 months at a tertiary public teaching hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. To obtain information on outcomes at three months, 450 consecutive patients with first-ever stroke were followed-up. The remaining four studies of this thesis present findings from this follow-up study.
Results -
Principal surveillance findings were that the median age of patients was 65.0 years, ischaemic stroke was the dominant type, the majority of admissions were for first-ever events, and the signs and symptoms of stroke were similar in Viet Nam as elsewhere. Around one-half of patients had scores on the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) corresponding to most severe disability (mRS=4/5). The estimated incidence of hospital-admitted stroke was 105.6 per 100,000 person-years, and the confirmed case-fatality at 28 days was 12.2%.
Case-fatality and functional outcomes at 3 months after stroke were assessed in the second study. With minimal loss to follow-up, case-fatality at 3 months was 10.4% and one-third of survivors had most severe disability (mRS=4/5). Over three months, one-half of patients had improved functional status and one-quarter had worsened, with male patients having greater improvement.
In the third study, information for 437 patients in the cohort was used to estimate the costs of stroke treatment. Average total costs per stroke admission were USD 963 comprising USD 560 for direct medical cost, USD 171 for direct non-medical cost, and USD 240 for indirect costs. Health insurance halved out-of-pocket direct medical costs. Severity of stroke, length of stay and household wealth were the major predictors of cost.
The reliability and validity of the Duke Health Profile (DHP) for assessing the Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) of stroke patients was examined in the fourth study of 108 patients and 94 caregivers of patients. They completed the DHP questionnaire and a comparison instrument, the EQ-5D. Each was re-administered after 1 week. Intra-class correlations ranged from 0.60 to 0.86 (patient test-retest) and from 0.55 to 0.98 (patient-proxy agreement). Correlations between DHP and EQ-5D dimensions were strongest for similar constructs (r=0.53–0.66).
The HRQoL of 373 stroke survivors at 3 months was assessed in the fifth study. Their average DHP overall score (58.7) and EQ-5D utility score (0.67) were lower than those from comparable general population samples. Female sex, increasing age, lower SES, severe stroke at admission time and poor functional status at 3 months were predictors of poorer HRQoL.
Conclusions and implications -
Young age at stroke onset relative to patients in HICs, and the high proportion with moderate-to-severe disability, confers a high burden of stroke in Viet Nam. The similar clinical presentation suggests that campaigns used in HICs to raise awareness of early signs and symptoms could be adopted in Viet Nam. The comparable factors associated with stroke occurrence and with functional outcomes prompt application of strategies for prevention and management of stroke that are effective in HICs. Despite relatively short average length of stay, the total costs of treatment amounted to 2 and 3 times the median monthly income of insured and non-insured patients, respectively. Broader health insurance coverage of the Vietnamese population would help to bridge the gap. The overload of patients in the stroke unit at this hospital signals the need for more stroke units to be established in other hospitals in HCMC and surrounds. Measurements of HRQoL with the DHP, which has moderate reliability and validity for use with stroke patients in Viet Nam, demonstrated that stroke reduces the reported psychological well-being of survivors, and particularly that of female patients.


Borderland regions in Southeast Asia have increasingly been reimagined as resource-rich, unexploited 'wastelands' targeted for large-scale development schemes for economic integration and control. Common and overlapping features of these regions are processes of resource extraction, agricultural expansion, population resettlement and securitization, and the confluence of these dynamic processes creates special frontier constellations. Through the case of the Indonesian-Malaysian borderlands, I explore how processes of frontier colonization through agricultural expansion have been a recurrent product of Indonesian development and security policies since the early 1960s. I argue that frontier development accelerates and intensifies when national discourses of security and sovereignty and state-led agrarian expansion intersect along national borders. The study generates new insights into how contemporary state-capitalist processes of agricultural expansion in the borderlands of Indonesia and other parts of Southeast Asia are justified through discourses of national sovereignty and notions of 'untamed' and 'wild' resource frontiers. I highlight the multiple meanings and notions associated with regions where resource frontiers and national borders interlock. The study offers an explanation of how frontiers as discursive constructs and material realities play out along national borders.


This study compares the labour market trajectories of the temporary employed in Norway with those in Sweden. Sweden's employment protection legislation gap between the strict protection of permanent employment and the loose regulation of temporary employment has widened in recent decades, while Norway has maintained balanced and strict regulation of both employment types. The study asserts that the two countries differ concerning the distribution of trajectories, leading to permanent employment and trajectories that do not create firmer labour market attachment. Using sequence analysis to analyse two-year panels of the labour force survey for 1997–2011, several different trajectories are discerned in the two countries. The bridge trajectories dominate in Norway, while dead-end trajectories are more common in Sweden. Moreover, the bridge trajectories are selected to stronger categories (mid-aged and higher educated) in Sweden than in Norway. The results are discussed from the perspective of labour market dualisation.


The minimum variance (MV) beamformer is an adaptive beamforming method that has the potential to enhance the resolution and contrast of ultrasound images. Although the sensitivity of the MV beamformer to steering vector errors and array calibration errors is well-documented in other fields, in ultrasound it has been tested only under gross sound speed errors. Several robust MV beamformers have been proposed, but have mainly reported robustness only in the presence of sound speed mismatches. Additionally the impact of PAC methods in mitigating the effects of phase aberration in MV beamformed images has not been observed Accordingly, this thesis report consists on two parts. On the first part, a more complete analysis of the effects of different types of aberrators on conventional MV beamforming and on a robust MV beamformer from the literature (Eigenspace-based Minimum Variance (ESMV) beamformer) is carried out, and the effects of three PAC algorithms and their impact on the performance of the MV beamformer are analyzed (MV-PC). The comparison is carried out on Field II simulations and phantom experiments with electronic aberration and tissue aberrators. We conclude that the sensitivity to speed of sound errors and aberration limit the use of the MV beamformer in clinical applications, and that the effect of aberration is stronger than previously reported in the literature. Additionally it is shown that under moderate and strong aberrating conditions, MV-PC is a preferable option to ESMV. On the second part, we propose a new, locally-adaptive, phase aberration correction method (LAPAC) able to improve both DAS and MV beamformers that integrates aberration correction for each point in the image domain into the formulation of the MV beamformer. The new method is tested using fullwave simulations of models of human abdominal wall, experiments with tissue aberrators, and in vivo carotid images. The LAPAC method is compared with conventional phase aberration correction with delay-and-sum beamforming (DAS-PC) and MV-PC. The proposed method showed between 1-4 dB higher contrast than DAS-PC and MV-PC in all cases, and LAPAC-MV showed better performance than LAPAC-DAS. We conclude that LAPAC may be a viable option to enhance ultrasound image quality of both DAS and MV in the presence of clinically-relevant aberrating conditions.


The diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae), is one of the most destructive insect pests of Brassica crops in both temperate and tropical regions over the world. The insect is considered as a key pest of crucifers in Central America. Due to the intense use of pesticides and because the pest occurs in all development stages at any time of the year in the tropics, Plutella xylostella has easily developed resistance to at least 46 different pesticides, including DDT.

Few studies have been made on the predators of P. xylostella and even less is known about their feeding rate. The maximum prey consumption and the density of the predators are basic elements in the evaluation of a predator as a possible biological control agent. Therefore a quantitative study was done to (1) identify possible predators of the diamondback moth and (2) estimate their feeding rate on P. xylostella eggs and larvae of different stages under laboratory conditions. The overall goal was to provide information that can serve as a basis for finding important biological control agents in cabbage cultivation in Nicaragua, where the investigation took place.

The result showed a broad spectrum of predators eating P. xylostella. The most important predators, with respect to larval consumption in the laboratory and abundance in the field and on plants, were wolf spiders (Lycosidae). Rove beetles (Staphylinidae), jumping spiders (Salticidae) and damsel bugs (Heteroptera: Nabidae) had also high consumption rates and were frequently observed on cabbage plants or in cabbage fields. The feeding rate varied least among predator groups when they were fed 2nd instar larvae (L2) compared to when fed eggs or L3. The feeding rate of predators on L2 was also significantly higher than that on L3, for all predator groups except for Paederus sp. (Staphylinidae). No differences in feeding capacity were found between individuals of predators, belonging to the same groups, collected in field margins and in cabbage fields.


Addressing a variety of theoretical cosmological problems, and emphasizing a mathematical approach, this volume nicely complements Peebles' "Physical Cosmology" (Princeton Series in Physics, 1971). Ryan and Shepley have concentrated on the structure of models of the universe. By using a modern terminology that emphasizes the operator nature of vectors and tensors, as opposed to their components in a particular coordinate system, the authors develop modern tensor analysis to the point where it can be applied to general relativistic cosmology. They then use it to describe homogeneous cosmologies in considerable detail. Both students and researchers are likely to find these techniques especially useful.Among their subjects are: spaces with groups of motions; singularities; Taub-NUT-Misner space; Bianchitype models; Hamiltonian cosmology; and perturbations in anisotropic models. A brief section on observations is also included, as is a complete bibliography. A final section presents graded exercises that underscore the potential yet unrealized in this area of study.Originally published in 1975.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.


Declarative queries enable programmers to write data manipulation code without being aware of the underlying data structure implementation. By increasing the level of abstraction over imperative code, they improve program readability and, crucially, create opportunities for automatic parallelization and optimization. For example, the Language Integrated Query (LINQ) extensions to C# allow the same declarative query to process in-memory collections, and datasets that are distributed across a compute cluster. However, our experiments show that the serial performance of declarative code is several times slower than the equivalent hand-optimized code, because it is implemented using run-time abstractions---such as iterators---that incur overhead due to virtual function calls and superfluous instructions.
 To address this problem, we have developed Steno, which uses a combination of novel and well-known techniques to generate code for declarative queries that is almost as efficient as hand-optimized code. Steno translates a declarative LINQ query into type-specialized, inlined and loop-based imperative code. It eliminates chains of iterators from query execution, and optimizes nested queries. We have implemented Steno for uniprocessor, multiprocessor and distributed computing platforms, and show that, for a real-world distributed job, it can almost double the speed of end-to-end execution.


The problem of selecting a clustering algorithm from the myriad of algorithms has been discussed in recent years. Many researchers have attacked this problem by using the concept of admissibility (e.g. Fisher and Van Ness, 1971, Yadohisa, et al., 1999). We propose a new criterion called the structured ratio for measuring the clustering results. It includes the concept of the well-structured admissibility as a special case, and represents some kind of goodness-of-fit of the clustering result. New admissibilities of the clustering algorithm and a new agglomerative hierarchical clustering algorithm are also provided by using the structured ratio. Details of the admissibilities of the eight popular algorithms are discussed.


Accepting the widespread view that 1 Thessalonians is the earliest surviving Pauline letter, Furnish commends reading it as fully as possible on its own terms, without presupposing or imposing themes or positions that are explicit only in letters of a later date. While he agrees with commentators who note this letter's pastoral aims and character, he is more convinced than some that it also exhibits a rich and coherent theological point of view. Furnish interprets 2 Thessalonians as the work of an anonymous Paulinist writing several decades after the apostle's death. He regards this letter, too, as historically and theologically valuable, although less for what it discloses about Paul's ministry and thought than for what it shows about the reception and interpretation of Paul in the late first-century church.


The World Health Organization (WHO) estimate that road traffic accidents represent the third leading cause of 'death and disease' worldwide. Many countries have, therefore, launched safety campaigns that are intended to reduce road traffic accidents by increasing public awareness. In almost every case, however, a reduction in the total number of fatalities has not been matched by a comparable fall in the total frequency of road traffic accidents. Low severity incidents remain a significant problem. One possible explanation is that these road safety campaigns have had less effect than design changes. Active safety devices such as anti-lock braking, and passive measures, such as side impact protection, serve to mitigate the consequences of those accidents that do occur. A number of psychological phenomena, such as attribution error, explain the mixed success of road safety campaigns. Most drivers believe that they are less likely to be involved in an accident than other motorists. Existing road safety campaigns do little to address this problem; they focus on national and regional statistics that often seem remote from the local experiences of road users. Our argument is that localized road accident information would have better impact on people's safety awareness. This thesis, therefore, describes the design and development of a software tool to provide the general public with access to information on the location and circumstances of road accidents in a Scottish city. We also present the results of an evaluation to determine whether the information provided by this software has any impact on individual risk perception. A route planing experiment was also carried out. The results from the experiment gives more positive feedback that road users would consider accident information if such information was available for them.


Five case studies of applications of scale model impulse response tests on actual building projects will be presented to illustrate the ways that these methods can become an integrated part of the architectural design process. Case study 1 explores the acoustical and architectural design for the basic shape of a vaulted ceiling in a small auditorium. Case study 2 examines the refinement of balcony details in an 1800‐seat performing arts facility. Case study 3 examines the changing of a small portion of the rear wall of an historic concert hall. Case study 4 examines the acoustical effects of sound propagation through an acoustically transparent lattice in a large concert hall. Case study 5 examines propagation of noise into a community from a partially enclosed, open‐air firing range. The use of the impulse response tests in each of these instances provided the design team with a mechanism to enhance the understanding of the team members of the acoustical phenomena in question. The results of these studies point to the need for additional research to build a more direct link between the complex impulse responses heard in actual rooms and the acoustical qualities of the rooms. [Work supported by NSF.]


We previously demonstrated that a whole juvenile (2-week-old) mouse ovary transplanted into a syngenic host testis survived and exhibited normal folliculogenesis. The aim of this study was to test whether the graft possessed normal abilities such as ovulation. Whole ovaries were excised from a female transgenic mouse (2-week-old) ubiquitously expressing enhanced green fluorescence protein. The isolated ovary was then transplanted into the testis of a nontransgenic male (2-week-old), in which approximately 80% of the seminiferous tubules had been removed to create enough space for the graft to grow properly. Two months after transplantation, the ovary grafts were isolated from the testis and subjected to histological analysis. Some grafts were subsequently subjected to ovary transplantation to assess the capability of the grafted ovaries to ovulate oocytes. Two months after ovary transplantation, 3 of 8 ovaries grafted under the ovarian capsule successfully ovulated fluorescent oocytes in response to a surge of luteinizing hormone. These results indicate that intratesticular grafting of juvenile ovaries allows functional development of the graft. This system would be helpful for investigating oogenesis/folliculogenesis in ectopic environments as well as for rescuing ovaries with genetic defects.


[1] Between May 2002 and April 2006, many continuous observations of mesopause region temperature and horizontal wind, each lasting longer than 24 h (termed full-diurnal-cycle observations), were completed at the Colorado State University Na Lidar Facility in Fort Collins, Colorado (41°N, 105°W). The combined data set consists of 120 full-diurnal-cycle observations binned on a monthly basis, with a minimum of 7 cycles in April and a maximum of 18 cycles in August. Each monthly data set was analyzed to deduce mean values and tidal period perturbations. After removal of tidal signals, monthly mean values are used for the study of seasonal variations in mesopause region temperature, zonal and meridional winds. The results are in qualitative agreement with our current understanding of mean temperature and wind structures in the midlatitude mesopause region with an observed summer mesopause of 167 K at 84 km, summer peak eastward zonal wind of 48 m/s at 94 km, winter zonal wind reversal at ∼95 km, and peak summer (pole) to winter (pole) meridional flow of 17 m/s at 86 km. The observed mean state in temperature, zonal and meridional winds are compared with the predictions of three current general circulation models, i.e., the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model version 3 (WACCM3) with two different simulations of gravity wavefields, the Hamburg Model of the Neutral and Ionized Atmosphere (HAMMONIA), and the 2003 simulation of the Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Mesosphere-Electrodynamics General Circulation Model (TIME-GCM). While general agreement is found between observation and model predictions, there exist discrepancies between model prediction and observation, as well as among predictions from different models. Specifically, the predicted summer mesopause altitude is lower by 3 km, 8 km, 3 km, and 1 km for WACCM3 the two WACCM runs, HAMMONIA, and TIME-GCM, respectively, and the corresponding temperatures are 169 K, 170 K, 158 K, and 161 K. The model predicted summer eastward zonal wind peaks to 71 m/s at 102 km, to 48 m/s at 84 km, to 75 m/s at 93 km, and to 29 m/s at 94 km, in the same order. The altitude of the winter zonal wind reversal and seasonal asymmetry of the pole-to-pole meridional flow are also compared, and the importance of full-diurnal-cycle observations for the determination of mean states is discussed.


In mid-2012, a global merged interaction region (GMIR) observed by Voyager 2 crossed through the heliosheath and collided with the heliopause, generating a pressure pulse that propagated into the very local interstellar medium. The effects of the transmitted wave were seen by Voyager 1 just 93 days after its own heliopause crossing. The passage of the transient was accompanied by long-lasting decreases in Galactic cosmic ray intensities that occurred from ∼2012.55 to ∼2013.35 and ∼2012.91 to ∼2013.70 at Voyager 2 and Voyager 1, respectively. Omnidirectional (≳20 MeV) proton-dominated measurements from each spacecraft's Cosmic Ray Subsystem reveal a remarkable similarity between these causally related events, with a correlation coefficient of 91.2% and a time lag of 130 days. Knowing the locations of the two spacecraft, we use the observed time delay to calculate the GMIR's average speed through the heliosheath (inside the heliopause) as a function of temperature in the very local interstellar medium. This, combined with particle, field, and plasma observations, enables us to infer previously unmeasured properties of the heliosheath, including a range of sound speeds and total effective pressures. For a nominal temperature of ∼20,000 K just outside the heliopause, we find a sound speed of 314 ± 32 km s−1 and total effective pressure of 267 ± 55 fPa inside the heliopause. We compare these results with the Interstellar Boundary Explorer's data-driven models of heliosheath pressures derived from energetic neutral atom fluxes (the globally distributed flux) and present them as additional evidence that the heliosheath's dynamics are driven by suprathermal energetic processes.


Due to increasingly strict environmental regulation of marine transportation, vessel operators and other stakeholders are required to evaluate feasible compliance measures in the face of multiple criteria and with attention to uncertainties and risks. Several methods and models within operations research have been applied to explore such decision contexts, but little is reported on the problem structure itself and the key values, concerns, and uncertainties that apply to them. The objective of the paper is to present a problem structure for acquisition of marine emission reduction technologies in the Norwegian ferry fleet drawing on methods from decision science and systems engineering. To attain this objective, we utilize the SPADE methodology, which details five problem‐solving activities covering stakeholders, problem formulation, alternatives, decisions, and continuous evaluation. Each activity is informed by data collected through stakeholder interviews and literature analysis to establish an initial representation of acquisition decision issues. To keep a consistent and traceable problem structure, we provide a stakeholder diagram, value network, systemigram, and decision hierarchy centered around stakeholders and their values. These models may serve to inform decision‐makers in the development and appraisal of emission reduction technologies and strategies. The paper demonstrates the application of systems engineering as a problem‐structuring framework for complex, multidimensional marine technology acquisition decisions.


To prevent too much myelin from causing trouble, two proteins act to limit insulation of axons. In peripheral nerves, the insulating myelin sheath speeds up electrical conductivity by allowing impulses to skip down the axon from node to node. Axons signal using neuregulin to get the Schwann cells to begin their wraparound insulation project. But when is enough myelin too much? Cotter et al. have now found the signal that stops further rounds of myelin insulation. In developing mice, the proteins Dlg1 (mammalian discs large 1) and PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homolog on chromosome 10) were involved in calling a halt to insulation during early development. The balance between not enough and too much myelin insulation is controlled by opposing signals, which together optimize both the myelination and the velocity of nerve conduction. L. Cotter, M. Özçelik, C. Jacob, J. A. Pereira, V. Locher, R. Baumann, J. B. Relvas, U. Suter, N. Tricaud, Dlg1-PTEN interaction regulates myelin thickness to prevent damaging peripheral nerve overmyelination. Science 328, 1415–1418 (2010). [Abstract] [Full Text]


The use of perhexiline maleate as an antianginal agent is occasionally associated with side effects, particularly neuropathy and liver damage. The reason why some individuals develop these toxic reactions is not clear, though some evidence suggests that they may result from impaired oxidative metabolism, due to genetic or hepatic factors, and consequential accumulation of the drug in toxic concentrations. Drug oxidation was measured with an oxidation phenotyping procedure in 34 patients treated with perhexiline, 20 of whom had developed neuropathy and 14 of whom had not. Most of the 20 patients with neuropathy, but not the unaffected patients, showed an impaired ability to effect metabolic drug oxidation. This impairment was independent of hepatic function, concurrent drug therapy, or tobacco or alcohol consumption. The fact that the ability to oxidise several drugs is genetically controlled points to a genetic susceptibility to developing neuropathy in response to perhexiline. Routine determination of the drug oxidation phenotype might lead to safer use of perhexiline by predicting patients who may be more at risk of developing a neuropathic reaction associated with its long-term use.


The Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) sectors are facing unprecedented challenges, not just with increased complexity of projects per se, but design-related integration. This requires stakeholders to radically re-think their existing business models (and thinking that underpins them), but also the technological challenges and skills required to deliver these projects. Whilst opponents will no doubt cite that this is nothing new as the sector as a whole has always had to respond to change; the counter to this is that design 'creativity' is now much more dependent on integration from day one. Given this, collaborative processes embedded in Building Information Modelling (BIM) models have been proffered as a panacea solution to embrace this change and deliver streamlined integration. The veracity of design teams' "project data" is increasingly becoming paramount - not only for the coordination of design, processes, engineering services, fabrication, construction, and maintenance; but more importantly, facilitate 'true' project integration and interchange – the actualisation of which will require firm consensus and commitment. This Special Issue envisions some of these issues, challenges and opportunities (from a future landscape perspective), by highlighting a raft of concomitant factors, which include: technological challenges, design visualisation and integration, future digital tools, new and anticipated operating environments, and training requirements needed to deliver these aspirations. A fundamental part of this Special Issue's 'call' was to capture best practice in order to demonstrate how design, visualisation and delivery processes (and technologies) affect the finished product viz: design outcome, design procedures, production methodologies and construction implementation. In this respect, the use of virtual environments are now particularly effective at supporting the design and delivery processes. In summary therefore, this Special Issue presents nine papers from leading scholars, industry and contemporaries. These papers provide an eclectic (but cognate) representation   of AEC design visualisation and integration; which not only uncovers new insight and understanding of these challenges and solutions, but also provides new theoretical and practice signposts for future research.


The Bologna Process became embraced by the Ukrainian government as one of the mechanisms to achieve the goal of changing its system of education from the Soviet to the European model. However, research points to significant discrepancies between official reports and practices, as well as inconsistencies in the Bologna Process implementation in Ukraine. Of particular interest for gauging the impact of the Bologna Process on higher education policy frameworks in Ukraine amidst the declared transition to the democratic European system is the area of teacher education. Uniquely positioned at the crossroads between the higher education and primary and secondary education systems, teacher education is significantly affected by transformations and reforms pertaining to both areas. Through the systematic review of the extant literature and documents, this paper analyzes the history of Bologna Process implementation in Ukraine, reviews achievements and challenges of educational reforms in teacher education, problematizes the nature of educational transformations based on recommendations that ignore the significance of local needs, and posits that greater attention to the actual vs. stated outcomes of Bolognainitiated policies and reforms in teacher education is needed.


This thesis is in two parts. In Part I we consider integrals of the p-th power of the total curvature of a manifold immersed in R(^n) and thus introduce the notions of total p-th curvature and p-convex. This generalises the ideas of total curvature(which corresponds to total 1st curvature)and tight(which corresponds to 1-convex)introduced by Chern, Lashof , and Kuiper. We find lower bounds for the total p-th curvature in terms of the betti numbers of the immersed manifold and describe p-convex spheres. We also give some properties of 2-convex surfaces. Finally, through a discussion of volume preserving transformations of R(^n) we are able to characterise those transformations which preserve the total p-th curvature (when p>1)as the isometries of R(^n). Part II is concerned with the theory of foliations. Three groups associated with a leaf of a foliation are described. They are all factor groups of the fundamental group of the leaf: the Ehresmann group, the holonomy group of A.G.Walker, and the "Jet group". This Jet group is introduced as the group of transformations of the fibres of a suitable bundle induced by lifting closed loops on the leaf, and also by a geometric method which gives a means of calculating them. The relationship between these groups is discussed in a series of examples and the holonomy groups and Jet groups of each leaf are shown to be isomorphic. The holonomy group of a leaf is shown to be not a Lie group and, v/hen the foliation is of codimension 1, it is proved that the holonomy group is a factor group of the first homology group with integer coefficients and has a torsion subgroup which is either trivial or of order 2.


This paper shows that fines on the firm (vicarious liability) can optimally deter misreporting by the firm's manager. In a principal-agent model, shareholders choose whether to award equity compensation to a myopic (short-termist) manager. Equity induces effort and misreporting. The wedge between managerial and shareholders' time horizons provides a measure of agency costs; more-myopic managers tend to misreport more, which increases expected fines. In equilibrium, large decreases in agency costs lead to more equity grants and more misreporting and are consistent with greater shareholder welfare. Social effects are, however, ambiguous given misreporting externalities. Counterintuitively, decreases in agency costs may decrease social welfare if vicarious fines are set too low: shareholders will award equity and induce misreporting even when not justified by the accompanying economic production. The proper level of vicarious fines results in a second-best optimum where shareholders award equity if, and only if, the social gains exceed the cost.


The appearance of corpses in rubbish tips is not a recent phenomenon. In
 Argentina, tips have served not only as sites for the disposal of bodies but
 also as murder scenes. Many of these other bodies found in such places belong to
 individuals who have suffered violent deaths, which go on to become public
 issues, or else are 'politicised deaths'. Focusing on two cases
 that have received differing degrees of social, political and media attention
 – Diego Duarte, a 15-year-old boy from a poor background who went
 waste-picking on an open dump and never came back, and Ángeles Rawson, a
 girl of 16 murdered in the middle-class neighbourhood of Colegiales, whose body
 was found in the same tip – this article deals with the social meanings
 of bodies that appear in landfills. In each case, there followed a series of
 events that placed a certain construction on the death – and, more
 importantly, the life – of the victim. Corpses, once recognised, become
 people, and through this process they are given new life. It is my contention
 that bodies in rubbish tips express – and configure – not only the
 limits of the social but also, in some cases, the limits of the human
 itself.


In recent years, the evolution and the widespread adoption of virtualization, service-oriented architectures, autonomic, and utility computing have converged letting a new paradigm to emerge: cloud computing. Clouds allow the on-demand delivering of software, hardware, and data as services. Currently, the cloud offer is becoming wider day by day because all the major IT companies and service providers, like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, HP, IBM, and VMWare, have started providing solutions involving this new technological paradigm. As cloud-based services are more numerous and dynamic, the development of efficient service provisioning policies becomes increasingly challenging. In this paper, we take the perspective of Software as a Service (SaaS) providers that host their applications at an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) provider. Each SaaS needs to comply with quality-of-service requirements, specified in service-level agreement (SLA) contracts with the end users, which determine the revenues and penalties on the basis of the achieved performance level. SaaS providers want to maximize their revenues from SLAs, while minimizing the cost of use of resources supplied by the IaaS provider. Moreover, SaaS providers compete and bid for the use of infrastructural resources. On the other hand, the IaaS wants to maximize the revenues obtained providing virtualized resources. In this paper, we model the service provisioning problem as a generalized Nash game and we show the existence of equilibria for such game. Moreover, we propose two solution methods based on the best-reply dynamics, and we prove their convergence in a finite number of iterations to a generalized Nash equilibrium. In particular, we develop an efficient distributed algorithm for the runtime allocation of IaaS resources among competing SaaS providers. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach by simulation and performing tests on a real prototype environment deployed on Amazon EC2. Results show that, compared to other state-of-the-art solutions, our model can improve the efficiency of the cloud system evaluated in terms of Price of Anarchy by 50-70 percent.


Abstract Perception of space is an especially important part of research on urban fabric. The perception of a city is strongly correlated not only with a specific time and place but, first and foremost, with surveyed populations who, apart from having varying demographic features, frequently represent disparate community and cultural profiles. The objective of this study was to assess how the urban space of Szczecin (Poland) is perceived by its inhabitants and to ascertain the relations between various image elements. The example of Szczecin appears to be interesting, in as much as it is a peripheral city of a cross-border region with a historically and culturally diverse local community. The presented research used a method of analysing mental (image) maps based on the methodology proposed by Kevin Lynch (1960) and modified by the authors to incorporate in-depth interviews. Individual respondents' views were used to create a synthetic image of the city.


This article presents data on such a well-known fungus as Ganoderma Lucidum and its effect on the state of oxidative stress. As is known, under oxidative stress, altered Toll receptors cannot independently recognize microbial agents due to the altered chemical formula of L-galactosamine and thus mediators are not activated. It is also known that Ganoderma Lucidum due to β-polyglucans, which by chemical formula are close to this glycoprotein, can interact with leukocyte receptors and increase the adhesion molecules and leukocyte migration. Modern histological, ultrastructural and biochemical research methods are used. The results are presented and the corresponding conclusions are drawn.


Routing in delay tolerant networks is a challenging problem due to the intermittent connectivity between nodes resulting in the frequent absence of end-to-end path for any source-destination pair at any given time. Recently, this problem has attracted a great deal of interest and several approaches have been proposed. Since Mobile Social Networks (MSNs) are increasingly popular type of Delay Tolerant Networks (DTNs), making accurate analysis of social network properties of these networks is essential for designing efficient routing protocols. In this paper, we introduce a new metric that detects the quality of friendships between nodes accurately. Utilizing this metric, we define the community of each node as the set of nodes having close friendship relations with this node either directly or indirectly. We also present Friendship-Based Routing in which periodically differentiated friendship relations are used in forwarding of messages. Extensive simulations on both real and synthetic traces show that the introduced algorithm is more efficient than the existing algorithms.


We report on substantial pulse energy increase in Yb:KYW femtosecond laser oscillators by utilizing multiple laser crystals for an enhanced net-gain at higher pump power. The two-crystal oscillator generates pulse energies of 7 µJ at 1 MHz repetition rate which is, to our knowledge the highest energy ever reported from an Yb-doped tungstate fs-laser oscillator. The external pulse compression yields a pulse duration of 416 fs with a peak power of 12 MW being enough for stable white light generation in YAG.


The aim of this work is to investigate the possibilities to build a mobile biometric authentication system based on electroencephalogram (EEG). The objectives of this work include the investigation and identification of the most feasible feature extraction techniques and how these features can be used for authentication purposes. Therefore, we review the relevant literature, conduct several EEG measurement experiments and discuss their procedure and results with experts in the EEG and digital signal processing (DSP) fields. After gaining enough knowledge on the feature extraction and classification techniques and proposing the most applicable ones for our problem, we build and present a mobile prototype system capable of authenticating users based on the uniqueness of their brain-waves. Furthermore, we implement a novel authentication process, which leads the authentication system to be more secure. We also assess the usability of the system and define possible usage scenarios and propose a number of practical suggestions for future improvements of the system.


This paper proposes to use principles of geographic visualization in conjunction with multi‐criteria evaluation methods to support expert‐level spatial decision‐making. Interactive maps can be combined with analytical tools to explore various settings of multi‐criteria evaluation parameters that define different decision‐making strategies. In a case study, the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is used to calculate composite measures of urban quality of life (QoL) for neighbourhoods in Toronto. The AHP allows for an interactive exploration of decision‐making strategies, while offering a view on spatial patterns in the evaluation results. In particular, an interactive blending between a classical and a contemporary QoL model is supported. This feature is used in a pilot study to assess the usefulness of geographic visualization in urban QoL evaluation. Three user interviews provide positive feedback on the utility and usability of the tool that was operated by the investigator.


Open pore metal foams with moderate porosity (0.6 – 0.7) may be of interest as regenerators due to their high volumetric heat capacity and large specific surface area. Replication process is a low cost and simple foam manufacturing method which provides moderate porosity metal foams. Due to its simplicity, it provides many opportunities to investigate the effect of porosity, pore size and shape or their combination.
In this study, this process was used to manufacture metal foams. A method, called vacuum-gas, was the standard method for manufacturing metal foams in the University of Sheffield Material Science and Engineering department. This method was further investigated and two new methods, gas-only and mechanical infiltration, were introduced. Based on the foams produced by these methods, the gas-only method was adopted due to its repeatability and quality. The method was further investigated by manufacturing eight more samples (1.4-1.7 mm pore size) under various infiltration pressures and the optimum infiltration pressures were found for manufacturing foams with pore size of 1-1.1 mm, 1.4-1.7 mm and 2.0-2.36 mm.
A total of nine aluminium metal foams were manufactured for thermal and pressure testing. The manufactured foams had three different pore sizes, 1-1.1 mm (called Small samples), 1.4-1.7 mm (called Mid samples) and 2-2.36 mm (called Large samples). On average foams had porosity in the range of 0.62 – 0.65. Since this type of metal foams never been tested as a regenerator, two extra samples (a packed bed of 10000 2mm ball bearing and a packed bed of 100 layers of wire mesh No. 200) were made to compare with the manufactured foams and the results from other researchers.
A test rig was built to test the pressure drop under steady state flow condition from 1 to 6.5 m/s (permeability based Reynolds number from 20 to 175). The extended Darcy-Forchheimer equation and a cubic velocity of Darcy-Forchheimer were used to measure the permeability and form drag of the samples. The results showed that the cubic velocity equation had a better prediction of the permeability and form drag. The Small samples had the lowest permeability and highest form drag coefficient for metal foams. The wire mesh sample had the lowest permeability and lowest form drag among the tested samples.
In addition to steady state flow, samples pressure drop was also measured under oscillatory flow. A test rig was built to measure pressure drop and air instant velocity under oscillatory flow (1 to 19 Hz). The results showed that the oscillatory pressure drop was higher than steady state flow except for the Small samples which had higher pressure drop at steady state flow. The pressure drop for the wire mesh sample was measured to compare with other researchers data and a good agreement was observed with some of the published data. Moreover, the instant air velocity was measured by a hot-wire anemometer inside the connecting tube between the sample holder and the compressor. The results showed that the air velocity behaved like a turbulent flow during the acceleration and deceleration period.
A single-blow test rig was designed and manufactured to measure thermal performance of the samples. To estimate the average heat transfer coefficient of the samples, several types of the single-blow models were studied and the extended Schumann-Hausen model was implemented for predicting the samples' outlet air temperature history. Two matching techniques, maximum gradient and direct curve matching were used to match the experimental and modelled outlet temperatures history to estimate samples' NTU and average heat transfer coefficient. The results showed that NTU increased with decreasing of pore size. Based on mass flow rate Mid samples had the highest h, however the difference between the metal foam samples were insignificant. The foam samples had higher heat transfer coefficient than the ball bearing sample but the wire mesh sample had the highest heat transfer coefficient. The heat transfer results for the wire mesh and ball bearing samples were compared with published data and good agreements were observed.


Bridges are onion routers in the Tor Network whose IP addresses are not public. So far, no global security analysis of Tor bridges has been performed. Leveraging public data sources, and two known Tor issues, we perform the first systematic study on the security of the Tor bridges infrastructure. Our study covers both the public infrastructure available to all Tor users, and the previously unreported private infrastructure, comprising private nodes for the exclusive use of those who know their existence. Our analysis of the public infrastructure is twofold. First, we examine the security implications of the public data in the CollecTor service, identifying several pieces of data that may be detrimental for the security of bridges. Then, we measure security relevant properties of public bridges. Our results show that the 55% of public bridges that carry clients are vulnerable to aggressive blocking; that 90% of bridge clients use default bridges that are trivial to identify; that the concurrent deployment of Pluggable Transports in bridges reduces the security of the most secure transports; and that running non-Tor services in the same host as a bridge may harm its anonymity. To study the private infrastructure, we use an approach to discover 694 private bridges on the Internet and a novel technique to track bridges across IP changes. We are first to measure the size of the private bridge population (35% discovered bridges are private) and to report existence of infrastructures that use private proxies to forward traffic to backend bridges or relays. We use a novel clustering approach to analyze the different infrastructures using proxies and bridges, examining its hosting and security properties. We provide an extensive discussion on the security implications of our findings.


During the past decade, graphene --- a monolayer of carbon atoms --- has attracted enormous interest for its use in nanoelectronic device applications. The absence of bandgap, however, has stalled its use both in logic (inability to turn off) and radio frequency (poor power gain) applications. Graphene nanoelectronic devices based on alternative and complementary approaches, which yet exploit its fundamental properties rather than trying to change them, are needed for realistic applications. The work in this thesis proposes two such alternative approaches for graphene's application. The first approach examines the use of graphene as a membrane of radio frequency (RF) nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) capacitive switches. Owing to its extreme thinness and exceptional mechanical properties, the use of graphene in RF NEMS switches could enable lower actuation voltages and faster switching. To evaluate its electromagnetic performance, a framework for the full-wave simulation of graphene-based RF NEMS switch is developed for the first time. A rigorous modeling approach for graphene NEMS switch taking into account both its frequency-dependent conductivity, and the variation of conductivity in the up- and down-state is presented. Our results show that RF NEMS switches based on graphene with lower sheet resistivity values can deliver superior isolation and reduced losses at micro and millimeter wave frequencies, and their isolation can also be tuned with bias voltage. An attempt is also made to characterize the fabricated switches. The second approach deals with the negative differential resistance (NDR) phenomenon in planar graphene solid-state devices. The key advantage of planar graphene-based NDR devices is their ability to exhibit NDR at higher current levels, thanks to its high mobility and saturation velocity. The observation of NDR is reported in the output characteristics of graphene field effect transistors for various channel lengths and dielectric thicknesses at room temperature. The transistors are fabricated using chemical vapor deposition graphene with a top gate oxide down to 2.5 nm of equivalent oxide thickness. To understand the NDR phenomenon in graphene transistors, we perform extensive theoretical studies based on drift-diffusion model. This understanding allows us to design a novel graphene circuit which shows enhanced NDR characteristics and is more relevant for applications. Finally, the potential of this graphene NDR circuit is evaluated for RF reflection amplifiers application.


The Cooley Gallery is proud to present a solo exhibition by celebrated UK artist-collaborators Jon Thomson & Alison Craighead. Since the mid-1990s, Thomson & Craighead have explored the visual, statistical, and poetic nature of networked information and its relationship to capitalism, war, and everyday life. The title of the exhibition—The Academy of Saturn—derives from Voltaire's 1752 novella Micromegas, in which colossal astral travelers from The Academy of Saturn visit earth and engage in a philosophical discussion with a group of scientists. Radical scale shifts of knowledge and comprehension result in an absurd, zero-sum exchange between the species; however, the story is an acerbic parable about the inanity of war and the value of external perspective. With kindred tenacity and wit, Thomson & Craighead explore global information's competing—and increasingly intertwined—experiences of intimacy and incomprehensibility, touching information to be here now. Distillation, order, and observation take different forms throughout the exhibition. The monumental Horizon (2009–present), for instance, comprises a grid of real-time webcam images from every time zone in the world. In Thomson's words: "The result is a constantly updating array of images that read like a series of movie storyboards, but also as an idiosyncratic global electronic sundial." As Horizon conjoins time and space in axial form, it amplifies the lyricism of each circadian landscape. Thomson & Craighead also snare and repurpose networked information in material form, often working with ongoing streams of personal utterance. For The Academy of Saturn, the artists are creating a new iteration of their text-based project London Wall (2010–present), entitled, appropriately, Portland Wall. The work is based on public "status updates" posted on Twitter and Facebook in a three-mile radius from the Cooley. The texts are transformed into graphic posters and installed onto the walls of the gallery, forming a vast meander of endlessly readable concrete poetry—fleeting thoughts, arrested and echoed in their community of origin. Perhaps the artists' most alchemical work—Apocalypse (2016)—atomizes the King James Bible's account of the horrors of the End Times in the form of a luxury perfume (developed in collaboration with Edinburgh perfumer Euan McCall). The project was inspired by Master Bertram von Minden's fifteenth-century altarpiece depicting forty-five scenes from the Book of Revelations (housed at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London). The artists determined Apocalypse's olfactory notes by calculating the number of times a given substance, such as "blood" or "flesh," is mentioned in the text. Thomson & Craighead's interest in the found poetry of historical narrative and networked culture speaks to artistic forms such as the Oulipo movement founded in the 1960s. Oulipo artists constructed their work using patterned constraints such as palindromes and the S+7 technique, in which each noun in a text is replaced with the seventh noun that follows it in the dictionary. In Thomson & Craighead's sculpture Here (2011–present, also produced in a new iteration for the Cooley) a regulation street sign displays the distance the sign exists from itself if pointing in the direction of the North or South pole. Like a palindrome, the work encapsulates its own unidirectional movement: physical geography tuned to the logic of networked space.


Introduction Systematic antimicrobial resistance (AMR) surveillance of N. gonorrhoea (GC) from local to global level are being intensified to inform and design a monitoring system for its control. High-level resistance to previously recommended quinolones is widespread and decreased susceptibility to the extended-spectrum (third-generation) cephalosporin has been report. The Gonococcus antimicrobial surveillance program (GASP) in Kenya and the region carried out a study to determine the frequency and diversity of antimicrobial resistance of GC isolates from a Sex Workers Outreach Program (SWOP) Clinic in Nairobi over a period of 4 years. Methods The study tested 238 GC isolates from participants presenting with cervical/vaginal discharge. Samples collected were inoculated directly on modified Thayer martin media (MTM), transported to GASP Laboratories at KAVI-Institute of Clinical Research for processing by standard bacteriological procedures. Antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed using diffusion gradient method. The strains were defined as susceptible, intermediate and resistant using E-test as guided by WHO, all the findings were validates at WHO Collaborating Centre for Gonorrhoea and other STIs, Örebro University Hospital in Sweden. Results GC isolates, 41 in 2012, 119 in 2013, 24 in 2014 and 54 in 2015 showed 100% susceptibility to cefixime, ceftriaxone and spectinomycin in four years with a mean susceptibility of 82%, 37.7%, 19.5%, 1.6% and 0% for azithromycin, erythromycin, ciprofloxacin, penicillin and tetracycline respectively. Over the period ciprofloxacin showed a rise in resistance from 56% in 2012, 58.8% in 2013, 66.7% in 2014 to 68.5% in 2015. Conclusion Spectinomycin, cefixime, ceftriaxone, azithromycin are useful drugs, while Ciprofloxacin the most prescribed antibiotic is no longer reliable for treatment of GC in the region. Continued surveillance will enables the public health managers to modify the national treatment guidelines. Worsening GC drug resistance will compromise effective treatment and decrease disease control efforts.


Objective: to describe attitudes towards exercise and compliance with the recommendations of Physical Activity (PA) of health professionals belonging to an Institutional Health Service Providers (IHSP) from Bucaramanga. Methods: A descriptive exploratory study, conducted in 33 subjects (36.06 ± 7.77 years, 72.73% women) who were given a questionnaire that included 7 questions in a Likert-type scale, two multiple-choice single answers, and the short version of the IPAQ. Results: Most reports have a good attitude towards physical exercise and 42.4% meet the recommendations of PA according to WHO. In the exploratory analysis, the attitude related to achieving the recommendations of physical activity was, I am satisfied with the education in physical exercise I have received. Those who reported disagree, strongly disagree, neither agree nor disagree met lesser extent these recommendations (p = 0.039). Conclusions: All the participants evaluated recommend having good physical activity habits, exercising, and also they suggest AF to prevent and deal with illnesses. On the other hand, it was noticed that not being satisfied with the academic knowledge learned about physical exercise can be an obstacle to follow all the physical activity recommendations


What's in a brand promise? Everything, I would argue! In the myriad of brand definitions that exist today in an industry that often over-jargonises and complicates, one of the more succinct definitions of a brand is that "it is a promise kept". Brutally simple indeed, but concise, relevant and very demanding. The brand promise in essence packages the offering to the consumer, whether at a product, service or corporate brand level; and invites them to engage, purchase or experience the promise in the belief that it will be delivered.


We experimentally investigate the focusing properties of first- and second-order vector beams and vector vortex beams generated by photonic-crystal lasers. When the azimuthal indices of the vector beam (l) and the phase dependence (n) match, strong intensity appears at the center of focus. Our theoretical analyses agree well with the experimental results and predict that the central intensity has circular polarization.


In competitive domains, some knowledge about the opponent can give players a clear advantage. This idea led many people to propose approaches that automatically acquire models of opponents, based only on the observation of their input-output behavior. If opponent outputs could be accessed directly, a model can be constructed by feeding a machine learning method with traces of the behavior of the opponent. However, that is not the case in the RoboCup domain where an agent does not have direct access to the opponent inputs and outputs. Rather, the agent sees the opponent behavior from its own point of view and inputs and outputs (actions) have to be inferred from observation. In this paper, we present an approach to model low-level behavior of individual opponent agents. First, we build a classifier to infer and label opponent actions based on observation. Second, our agent observes an opponent and labels its actions using the previous classifier. From these observations, machine learning techniques generate a model that predicts the opponent actions. Finally, the agent uses the model to anticipate opponent actions. In order to test our ideas, we have created an architecture called OMBO (Opponent Modeling Based on Observation). Using OMBO, a striker agent can anticipate goalie actions. Results show that in this striker-goalie scenario, scores are significantly higher using the acquired opponent's model of actions.


In this article, the authors reflect on an interesting and complex period in French history, that which occurred after the death of Louis XIV when the country was ruled by Philippe II, the Duke of Orleans. The authors consider the relatively brief regency (1715–1723) as an example of a special type of historical epoch, which they denote with the term "conservative transition". Characteristic of monarchical and authoritarian regimes, such epochs are distinguished by a comparatively peaceful transition of power in conditions of social instability that threaten revolution and/or or coup d'etat. As a result of such transitions, the authorities are strengthened and power is transferred to the same social group in whose hands it lay before the beginning of the crisis. The experience of Philippe of Orleans and his advisor Guillaume Dubois demonstrates that guaranteeing a conservative transition requires extraordinary political and economic measures and the skilful mobilisation of the ruling class. This discussion of the regency allows the authors to offer a concise description of France at the moment of Peter I's visit (April-June 1717) and to propose a new view of this extremely controversial period in French history.


According to neo-institutional economics, markets are shaped by man-made rules and practices that determine market efficiency. Departing from this hypothesis, the dissertation examines how the organisation of commodity markets contributed to the rapid commercialisation of the county of Holland in the late Middle Ages. It discusses market institutions, their origins and their effects, and draws comparisons between Holland, Flanders and England. The reclamation of Holland's extensive peatlands in the 11th to 13th centuries had given rise to a society characterised by a balanced relation between state and towns, weak seignorial power, a near absence of urban coercion over the countryside, and a limited role of guilds. This affected the organisation of commodity markets in several ways. In comparison to England, the control over trade exerted by the state and the nobility was weak. To be sure, in England royal and seignorial control had given commercialisation an early start. It allowed, for instance, for the early emergence of a national system of weights and measures; moreover in the 13th and early 14th century English lords established many small markets and fairs on their estates. However, there was a reverse side: the king and the nobility were able to exploit trade through taxation, licensing and fining. In Holland this was more difficult, because control over urban markets was largely in the hands of urban merchants, who had a clear interest in efficient market institutions. In Flanders there was even less danger of squeezing by the ruler, but here the balance tended to tip over to the other side. Urban elites, especially in the cities of Ghent, Bruges and Ypres, monopolised trade and repressed rural commercial activities. In Holland the many small towns did not have the power to dominate the countryside; most attempts to establish urban monopolies were effectively blocked by the count, by competition amongst towns, or by the traditional autonomy of rural communities. Especially between 1350 and 1450 Holland profited from this situation: in these years specialised rural trade venues emerged that made it easier for peasants and fishermen to market their products. The late rise of guilds in Holland moreover implied that urban markets were usually easily accessible to outsiders. At the end of the Middle Ages markets in Holland performed well. An analysis of grain prices suggests that price integration with markets elsewhere in the North Sea region was relatively high; estimates of the level of market orientation show that by 1500 about 90% of labour input was devoted to the production of goods or commodities for the market. However, Holland's rapid commercialisation cannot be attributed to the institutional framework alone. Non-institutional factors played an important part: changes in demand stimulated an increase of interregional trade all over northwestern Europe, and in Holland the subsiding of the peat soil made grain cultivation, and thus self-sufficiency, impossible. Still, even if the organisation of commodity markets was not the driving force behind late medieval commercialisation, it did allow people to take full advantage of new commercial opportunities and thus facilitated and reinforced the process.


The MDR1 multidrug resistance gene confers resistance to natural-product anticancer drugs including paclitaxel. We conducted a clinical gene therapy study to determine whether retroviral-mediated transfer of MDR1 in human hematopoietic cells would result in stable engraftment, and possibly expansion, of cells containing this gene after treatment with myelosuppressive doses of paclitaxel. Patients with metastatic breast cancer who achieved a complete or partial remission after standard chemotherapy were eligible for the study. Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) were collected by both peripheral blood apheresis and bone marrow harvest after mobilization with a single dose of cyclophosphamide (4 g/m2) and daily filgrastim therapy (10 microg/kg/day). After enrichment for CD34+ cells, one-third of each collection was incubated ex vivo for 72 h with a replication-incompetent retrovirus containing the MDR1 gene (G1MD) in the presence of stem-cell factor, interleukin 3, and interleukin 6. The remaining CD34+ cells were stored without further manipulation. All of the CD34+ cells were reinfused for hematopoietic rescue after conditioning chemotherapy with ifosfamide, carboplatin, and etoposide regimen. After hematopoietic recovery, patients received six cycles of paclitaxel (175 mg/m2 every 3 weeks). Bone marrow and serial peripheral blood samples were obtained and tested for the presence of the MDR1 transgene using a PCR assay. Six patients were enrolled in the study and four patients received infusion of genetically altered cells. The ex vivo transduction efficiency, estimated by the PCR assay, ranged from 0.1 to 0.5%. Three of the four patients demonstrated engraftment of cells containing the MDR1 transgene. The estimated percentage of granulocytes containing the MDR1 transgene ranged from a maximum of 9% of circulating nucleated cells down to the limit of detection of 0.01%. One patient remained positive for the MDR1 transgene throughout all six cycles of paclitaxel therapy, whereas the other 2 patients showed a decrease in the number of cells containing the transgene to undetectable levels. Despite the low level of engraftment of MDR1-marked cells, a correlation was observed between the relative number of granulocytes containing the MDR1 transgene and the granulocyte nadir after paclitaxel therapy. No adverse reactions to the genetic manipulation procedures were detected. Therefore, engraftment of human HSCs transduced with the MDR1 gene can be achieved. However, the overall transduction efficiency and stable engraftment of gene-modified HSCs must be improved before MDR1 gene therapy and in vivo selection with anticancer drugs can be reliably used to protect cancer patients from drug-related myelosuppression.


Complex environments support high biodiversity and diverse microhabitat availability, which may reduce the intensity of competition among species. Both natural and anthropogenic disturbances reduce the structural complexity of habitats, leading to homogenization. High abundances of common, generalist species in disturbed habitats may be driven by reduced competition from specialists in similar habitats. We quantified habitat availability for and utilization of three co‐occurring arboreal geckos (Australian native house geckos [Gehyra dubia], northern velvet geckos [Oedura castelnaui] and eastern spiny‐tailed geckos [Strophurus williamsi]) in four replicated grazing regimes in an experimental grazing trial in north‐east Queensland, Australia. Native house geckos were most abundant in heavily grazed habitats, whereas the two other species rarely co‐occurred (either with each other or with native house geckos). Geckos displayed resource partitioning of habitat features, such as tree species and structural characteristics. We found evidence of interspecific competition among gecko species, in which native house geckos shifted their habitat selection in the presence of velvet geckos. In the absence of other geckos, native house geckos preferred rough, peeling bark and dead trees, yet in the presence of velvet geckos, native house geckos shifted away from dead trees, and used more structurally complex trees, probably due to high niche overlap with velvet geckos. Native house geckos were more resistant to the negative effects of livestock grazing than either velvet or spiny‐tailed geckos. In the absence of other species, native house geckos used a wider range of microhabitats. Synthesis and applications. Species assemblages are often the results of multiple or complex factors, including predation pressure, habitat availability or competitive interactions. The homogenizing effects on habitat structure caused by livestock grazing reduce diversity and suitability for microhabitat specialists. Reduced competition can therefore promote the abundance of microhabitat generalist species, such as Australian native house geckos, suggesting that livestock grazing leads to homogenization and simplification of habitat structure, which ultimately leads to changes in species composition through reduced competition. Understanding species' responses to disturbance, and more broadly, habitat complexity, is crucial for maintaining or increasing biological diversity in anthropogenically modified landscapes.


This essay explores Siba Grovogui's publication of Beyond Eurocentrism and Anarchy: Memories of International Order and Institutions as a way to ponder how histories of international relations are told. Clarke considers Grovogui's central point concerning the relationship between Western intellectual anxieties and postcolonial methods and modes of thought. One domain for interrogating the contemporary significance of the work is the call for new ontologies and interpretive humility. This commentary examines these new ontologies through the rethinking of ways that agents engage in particular political projects through an examination of the way that particular forms of meaning production are invigorated through communicative forms that can involve critical shifts to the moral order. Finally, the essay examines the shifts related to the formation of the "Responsibility to Protect" doctrine and the related aesthetic modalities that are changing the way mainstream adherents understand new democratic forms of participation. This example represents an attempt to consider what this means for the way we understand the transformation of contemporary democracy and how Grovogui's work has set the stage for these transformations.


Background Transcather Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVI) started at Barts Health NHS Trust (London Chest Hospital) in 2008. It was the beginning of a new era for patients with severe aortic stenosis who were not fit enough for surgery; giving another treatment opportunity to our patients. Methods Data was collected on patients who underwent TAVI between January 2009-January 2015, comparing transapical (TA) and transfemoral (TF) approaches using appropriate statistical tests. The clinical outcomes included 30 day mortality, mean Log-EuroScore, renal function and complications. Results Over the 6 years, there was a total of 79 TA (39.1%) and 123 TF (60.9%) TAVI procedures. 30 day mortality included TA 3.8% Vs TF 4.1% (p=0.213); with Mean Log-EuroScore being 19.68 TA and 20.07 TF (p=0.879), which improved over the years. Mean hospital stay for TA was 13 days and TF was 11 days. Patients who had an eGFR<60 and received a contrast volume>150 ml was 36.8% in TA patients and 35.8% in TF patients. With the former patient group, TA patients had a statistically significant post-TAVI AKI with worsening eGFR than TF (p=0.0013). Also, these TA patients had a longer hospital admission (mean=18.14 days) compared to TF (mean=10.32 days). Those patients with eGFR<60 and received<150 ml contrast had similar outcomes in TA patients (p=<0.0001) however there was a 1 mean day difference in hospital stay. The complications during TAVI procedures included major bleeding (TA 6.33% Vs TF 9.76% p=0.081), arrhythmia/cardiac arrest (TA 3.80% Vs TF 0.81% p=0.408) and cardiac tamponade (TA 0% Vs TF 4.07% p=0.185). Other complications like para-prosthetic leak accounted for TA 8.47% Vs TF 14% (p=0.700), and intra-operative regurgitation TA 11.43% Vs 21.28%TF (p=0.589). Conclusions Both TA and TF approaches were observed to have similar clinical outcomes over those 6 years, except for those TA patients with poor renal function (eGFR<60), who face worsening post-TAVI AKI and requiring longer hospital stay for recovery; despite the contrast volume received. Overall, TAVIs have been successful at Barts Health since it began, therefore the number of cases is expanding every year.


Many collective decision making problems have a combinatorial structure: the agents involved must decide on multiple issues and their preferences over one issue may depend on the choices adopted for some of the others. Voting is an attractive method for making collective decisions, but conducting a multi-issue election is challenging. On the one hand, requiring agents to vote by expressing their preferences over all combinations of issues is computationally infeasible; on the other, decomposing the problem into several elections on smaller sets of issues can lead to paradoxical outcomes. Any pragmatic method for running a multi-issue election will have to balance these two concerns. We identify and analyse the problem of generating an agenda for a given election, specifying which issues to vote on together in local elections and in which order to schedule those local elections.


The mechanisms mediating the more striking age related increase in cardiovascular disease in women than in men are poorly understood. We tested the hypothesis that aging has a greater impact on sympathetic traffic in women than in men. Muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA), blood pressure, and heart rate were measured in 120 healthy males and 96 healthy females aged 20 to 72 years. MSNA increased with age in both sexes, but age explained 53% of MSNA variance in female subjects and only 8% of MSNA variance in male subjects. Both the slope and intercept of the regression lines were significantly different between male and female groups (P<0.01 and P<0.001, respectively). For each decade of life, women showed an increase of 6.5 bursts/min in comparison to an increase of 2.6 bursts/min in males. Menopause did not explain the age-related increase in sympathetic traffic. For every 10-burst/min increment in MSNA in subjects older than 40, mean blood pressure increased by 2.7 mm Hg in men and by 6.1 mm Hg in women. Aging is accompanied by a greater increase in sympathetic traffic in women than in men, independent of menopausal status. Sympathetic neural mechanisms may contribute importantly to the more marked influence of age on blood pressure and cardiovascular disease in women.


Importance The immunosuppression vital to maintaining transplanted organs comes with an increased incidence of cutaneous neoplasms. Understanding the genesis of malignant melanoma (MM) in transplant subpopulations is necessary for adequate disease surveillance. Objective To determine the incidence and timing of presentation of MM in the cardiothoracic (heart and/or lung) transplant (CTT) population. Design, Setting, and Participants This was a retrospective cohort study of 1164 patients who underwent a CTT from 2001 through 2016 with a median follow-up time of 4.3 years. The study was performed at a single academic, tertiary referral center. The retrospective database was used to identify 1164 patients who underwent a CTT at Duke University Hospital from 2001 to 2016. Ten patients were excluded from the study owing to a history of MM, resulting in 1154 patients in the study. Five patients who developed MM after CTT were identified. Exposures Exposures included tacrolimus, prednisone, and mycophenolate mofetil. Main Outcomes and Measures The primary outcome measurement was the MM incidence. Secondary outcomes included time to diagnosis and survival. Results Five of 1154 patients who underwent a CTT (0.4%) developed biopsy-proven MM at a median follow-up time of 4.3 years after transplantation at a median age of 64.5 years (range, 31.0-74.0 years). Of the 1154 patients, 923 (80%) were men. Their mean (SD) age range was 63.8 years (27.2-68.2 years). Four patients (80%) presented with stage I disease while 1 (20%) presented with stage IV disease at a median time of 2.5 years (range, 0.1-5.3 years) after transplant compared with a median time of 6.2 years (range, 0.9-8.7 years) in Duke University's renal transplant population at a median follow-up time of 6.6 years. Two patients died after transplant, 1 owing to complications of the transplant and 1 owing to metastatic MM. Conclusions and Relevance Representing one of the largest reported studies of patients with CTT developing MM, our findings suggest that the CTT population experiences an incidence of MM similar to that of other solid organ transplant recipients and with a median of 2.5 years from transplant to melanoma diagnosis. While the small scale of our study prevents far-reaching conclusions, further study is warranted to better understand the incidence, timing, and clinical ramifications of melanomagenesis in the CTT population.


The disparity in access to information and communications technologies (ICTs), often referred to as "digital divide", has received significant attention among policy makers and academics around the world. In particular, the need for continuous monitoring of the ICT adoption rates by communities in different economies has been one of the top priorities in various forums. In order to address this need, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a United Nation agency, proposed a single, comprehensive ICT Development Index (IDI) in 2009. IDI is designed to consolidate useful information from previous measurement indices. One of its main uses, as illustrated by ITU, is to measure the magnitude of the digital divide and how it is evolving over time. The objective of this paper is to supplement the methodologies applied in ITU's project as well as in previous research in measuring and analyzing the digital divide. Using the data set and the statistical processes applied in the construction of IDI, we employ a cluster-based methodology to analyze the global and regional digital divide and provide additional insights.


The fast-growing number of high-performance computer processor and hand-held devices have paved the way for the development of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality in terms of hardware and software in the education sector. The question of whether students can adopt these new technologies is not fully addressed. Answering this question thus plays an essential role for instructors and course designers. The objectives of this study are: (1) to investigate the feasibility of the Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality development for undergraduate students, and (2) to highlight some practical challenges when creating and sharing Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality applications from student's perspective. Study design for the coursework was given with detail. During a 16-week long, 63 Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality applications were created from a variety of topics and various development tools. 43 survey questions are prepared and administered to students for each phase of the projects to address technical difficulties. The exploration method was used for data analysis.


The continuous monitoring of cardiac activity using conventional electrocardiography systems restricts signals acquisition to specific locations such as hospitals and medical clinics, and Holters systems don't transmit the information about the electrocardiogram to the doctor and don't react if the patient suffers from a cardiac abnormality, they only record the information. Portable remote systems have shown to provide mobility and comfort to the patient by allowing signals acquisition anywhere. This paper shows a remote monitoring system of the cardiac activity capable of performing the acquisition of ECG signals using a smartphone having Android, Bluetooth® communication and 3G technology for processing and visualizing ECG signals. The designed system is battery powered and three electrodes are attached to the patient's chest to obtain the signals. It was developed a low consumption electronic circuit for acquiring and conditioning these signals using instrumentation and operational amplifiers. The processed ECG signal is then digitalized by an Arduino Nano, and transmitted by Bluetooth from Arduino to the patient's smartphone so it can be sent to a workstation through 3G technology where the electrocardiogram may be analyzed by a physician. The results obtained on the tests performed validate the developed prototype regarding the acquired ECG signals in the oscilloscope and the developed Android application, which were compared with the ECG signals obtained using a conventional electrocardiography system. The proposed system aims to perform signal acquisition and transmission independent of time and the patient's location, allow early diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases, reduce the number of the doctor's visits required, besides providing a device more comfortable to the patient during the monitoring of electrocardiogram signals while performing daily activities.