The paper investigates the recognition of group actions in meetings by modeling the joint behaviour of participants. Many meeting actions, such as presentations, discussions and consensus, are characterised by similar or complementary behaviour across participants. Recognising these meaningful actions is an important step towards the goal of providing effective browsing and summarisation of processed meetings. A corpus of meetings was collected in a room equipped with a number of microphones and cameras. The corpus was labeled in terms of a predefined set of meeting actions characterised by global behaviour. In experiments, audio and visual features for each participant are extracted from the raw data and the interaction of participants is modeled using HMM-based approaches. Initial results on the corpus demonstrate the ability of the system to recognise the set of meeting actions.


The chief emphasis of the paper is given to the calculation of the information capacity of a beam of light for on-off signal modulation. A preliminary and approximate calculation in Sec. 2 is based on Gaussian modulation. On-off modulation permits an exact calculation of the information capacity; the calculation is based on the Poisson statistics of nondegenerate ensembles of Bose entities.Most of the results are given in terms of the information capacity per transmitted photon, measured in bits per photon, and called the information efficiency It. When there is no ambient light, and when the probability p that the gate is open is equal to one-half, the maximum possible information efficiency is just one bit per transmitted photon; when, however, the probability p of an open gate is less than one-half, the information efficiency It may be higher, with the upper bound log2(1/p).The calculation of the information efficiency in Sec. 3 supposes that no light reaches the receiver except that from the gated source. In Sec. 4 ambient light also is permitted to reach the receiver; extensive numerical results were obtained with a high-speed digital computer and are presented in tables and graphs.The term light is used throughout the paper instead of radiation, in order to emphasize that the results hold only for nondegenerate beams of radiation. The output of laser oscillators is therefore excluded.


Spatial relationalleaming can be defined as the use of the spatial (geometric) relationship between two or more cues (landmarks) in order to locate additional points in space (O'Keefe and Nadel, 1979). An internal spatial representation enables an animal to compute novel locations and travel routes from familiar landmarks and routes (Dyer, 1993). A spatial representation is an internal construct mediating between perceived stimuli in the environment and the behaviour of the animal (Tolman, 1948). In this type of spatial representation the information encoded must be isomorphic with the physical environment such that the geometric relations of distance, angle and direction are maintained or can be computed from the stored information (Gallistel, 1990). A series of spatial and foraging task experiments were conducted to investigate the utilisation of spatial relational learning as a spatial strategy available to cotton-top tamarins (Sag uinus oedipus oedipus). The apparatus used was an 8x8 matrix of holes set in an upright wooden board to allow for the manipulation of visual cues and hidden food items such that the spatial configuration of cues and food could be transformed (translated or rotated) with respect to the perimeter of the board. The definitive test of spatial relational learning was whether the monkeys relied upon the spatial relationship between the visual cues to locate the position of the hidden food items. In a control experiment testing for differential use of perceptual information the results showed that if given the choice, tamarins relied on visual over olfactory cues in a foraging task. Callitrichids typically depend on olfactory communication in socio-sexual contexts so it was unusual that olfaction did not also playa significant role in foraging. In the first spatial learning experiment, the tamarins were found to rely on the three visually presented cues to locate the eleven hidden food items. However, their performance was not very accurate. In the next experiment the task was simplified so that the types of spatial strategies the monkeys were using to solve the foraging task could be clearly identified. In this experiment, only two visual cues were presented on either end of a Iine of four hidden food items. Once the monkeys were trained to these cues. the cues and food were translated and/or rotated on the board. Data from the beginning and middle of each testing session were used in the final analysis: in a previous analysis it was found that the monkeys initially searched the baited holes in the beginning of a testing session and thereafter predominantly searched unbaited holes. This suggests that they followed a win-stay/lose-shift foraging strategy, a finding that is supported by other studies of tamarins in captivity (Menzel and Juno, 1982) and the wild (Garber, 1989). The results also showed that the monkeys were searching predominately between the cues and not outside or around of them, indicating that they were locating the hidden food by using the spatial relationship between the visual cues. This provides evidence for the utilisation of spatial relational learning as a foraging strategy by cotton-top tamarins and the existence of complex internal spatial representations. Further studies are suggested to test captive monkeys' spatial relational capabilities and their foraging strategies. In addition, comparative and field studies are outlined that would provide information regarding New World monkeys' spatial learning abilities, neurophysiological organisation and the evolution of complex computational processes. I dedicate this thesis to my mother, Merelyn Trupin Dolins, for her constant love and support, and above all, for her friendship. I also dedicate this thesis to the memory of my grandfather, Philip Trupin, who thought that learning was great, and taught me the gentle ways of human and animal love.


In this paper, we address outliers in spatiotemporal data streams obtained from sensors placed across geographically distributed locations. Outliers may appear in such sensor data due to various reasons such as instrumental error and environmental change. Real-time detection of these outliers is essential to prevent propagation of errors in subsequent analyses and results. Incremental Principal Component Analysis (IPCA) is one possible approach for detecting outliers in such type of spatiotemporal data streams. IPCA has been widely used in many real-time applications such as credit card fraud detection, pattern recognition, and image analysis. However, the suitability of applying IPCA for outlier detection in spatiotemporal data streams is unknown and needs to be investigated. To fill this research gap, this paper contributes by presenting two new IPCA-based outlier detection methods and performing a comparative analysis with the existing IPCA-based outlier detection methods to assess their suitability for spatiotemporal sensor data streams.


A Student's Vocabulary for Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic provides the student with a vocabulary list by word frequency for words appearing ten times or more in the Hebrew text. Unlike other vocabulary lists, this work combines all word forms in a single list, simplifying the student's task of learning all words of a given frequency. Words are given in groups of thirty or fewer in order to provide the students with short, manageable learning blocks. The vocabulary list also gives the basic meaning of each word, a phonetic pronunciation guide, key information about the word's part of speech, and the number of times each word appears in the Hebrew text. A separate section of the vocabulary list contains all Aramaic words appearing in the Old Testament. A Student's Vocabulary for Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic is a tool that will be welcomed and used by all students of Hebrew.


This study uses a regression-based modelling approach using an ensemble of 20,000 water mains compiled for 17 North American networks to understand the relationships between pipe factors (pipe flow rate, unit headloss, proximity to major components, average pressure, and diameter) and energy efficiency/energy loss performance metrics. The regression analysis aims to predict efficiency values in pipes based upon common-practice values of average pressure and unit headloss to better understand the energy performance associated with those thresholds. The results of regression analysis show that commonly considered pressure ranges (30-50 m) correspond to good values of the energy needed by user (ENU) metric, with pressure deficient pipes by definition having lower, non-ideal ENU values. For unit headoss, common thresholds that would trigger pipe replacement (3 m/km in transmission mains, 10 m/km in distribution mains) correspond to net energy efficiency (NEE) of 74.9 and 74.6 percent, respectively, for the ensemble of water mains analyzed. These pipes represent the poorest performers and while there are not many such pipes within the ensemble, as NEE of 74.6 corresponds to the 7 th percentile, there is a need for tools and analyses like these to help water utilities identify the pipes with the greatest energy impact from across their water distribution systems.


A review across the periodic table of tanning effects of simple inorganic compounds reveals that many elements are capable of being used to make leather. But, if the practical criteria of effectiveness, availability, toxicity and cost are applied, the useflul options reduce to chromium ([III) the benchmark orto titanium (IV) zucomum ([V) iron (II/III) and aluminium ([II) For mainly environmental reasons, alternative tanning agents to chromium are needed, However. none so far investigated match the all round properties achieved with chromium (III) salts.
In tanning terms, the chemistry of titanium (IV) is dominated by the titanyl ion, TiO2, limiting its reactivity with collagen. An alternative approach to titanium tanning, using metastable titanium (III) salts as possible tanning agents, was investigated in this study. A method to determine the titanium content in leathers was developed.
Complexes of Ti (III) were investigated using various spectroscopic techniques, including uv/vis spectroscopy, electron spin resonance, electron nuclear double resonance and nuclear magnetic resonance dispersion spectroscopies. The complexes used in subsequent tanning studies were based on titanium (III) citrate, gluconate and tartrate. However, in comparative trials with chromium (III) salts, the study highlighted that titanium (III) salts were not suitable for tanning collagen. Titanium (III) saks were found to be useflul in the production of semi- metal tamlages.
The research was extended to investigate the hydrothermal shrinking of tanned collagen.
Techniques such as extended x-ray absorption — fine structure and x-ray absorption near structure were used to investigate the interaction of chromium (III) tanning salts and titanium (III) complexes with collagen.
The research demonstrated that the shrinking reaction is independent of the tannage. It involves instead the breaking of hydrogen bonds, rather than the breakdown of the tannin-collagen molecule. From this work, and a reappraisal of older work on the shrinking reaction, a new theory of tanning has been formulated based on co-operating units and the role of crystallinity in stabilising the collagen structure. The influence of the solvent is also discussed


Satellite measurements of cloud properties and atmospheric radiation were used to investigate the effect of spatial and temporal scales on the coincident occurrences of tropical individual cirrus clouds (ICCs) and deep convective systems (DCSs). There is little or even negative correlation between instantaneous occurrences of ICC and DCS in small areas. When spatial and temporal domains are increased, ICCs become more dependent on DCSs due to the origination of many ICCs from DCSs and moisture supply from the DCS in the upper troposphere for the ICCs to grow, resulting in significant positive correlation between the two types of clouds. The estimated radiative feedback due to the change in tropical high cloud area coverage with sea surface temperature appears small and about −0.14 Wm−2K−1, which would not cancel out the estimated anthropogenic forcing of doubled atmospheric CO2.


Two studies investigated methods of decreasing feed costs of cow-calf operations. In the first study, two experiments were conducted to determine the difference in grazed forage intake of beef cows of known residual feed intake (RFI) rank. Low RFI (highly efficient) cows had a 21% lower average numerical forage intake (P = 0.23) than high RFI cows (lowly efficient) during mid to late gestation in Experiment. 1. In Experiment 2, an 11% numerical difference in forage intake (P = 0.12) was observed between low and high RFI cows in late lactation, while in both experiments RFI groups had similar body weight (BW) and body condition score (BCS) change. Further research is necessary to confirm these differences due to low numbers used in this study. A second 2-year study compared performance differences between spring-calving crossbred beef cows wintered on one of three treatments: grass hay only, grass hay with grain supplementation, or non-endophyte infected stockpiled tall fescue (STF) pasture. Cows grazing STF ended the trial with higher BW and BCS than cows fed hay only in both years and cows fed hay with supplement in year 1. Differences in performance did not extend past winter grazing, and calves born had similar birth and weaning weights among treatments. Grazing STF is a viable option for wintering spring-calving beef cows, and because typical grass hay is of lower quality than STF, cows fed hay require supplementation to achieve similar performance to that observed while grazing STF.


The relationship between higher education and industry in vocational subjects is important. This priority is recognised by professional institutions that have a long tradition of accrediting education undertaken in universities. Industry is changing faster than at any point previously as the market for services in the built environment becomes increasingly global. There is evidence that higher education and industry are on divergent paths and that engagement activity now provides a critical link between academia and practice. The quality and value of this engagement is now crucial to the health of the built environment sector.

This study examines the value of engagement activity between higher education and industry and considers how it can be measured. This study explores the issue of engagement and develops new theory in this
important area. Using a grounded theory approach the study was undertaken in three phases. Primary data was from workshops and surveys of opinion together with secondary data drawn from the work in the Accelerating Change
in Built Environment Education (ACBEE) project undertaken at the University of Salford under the direction of the author.

In the first phase, the existing landscape is explored through the medium of case studies and an understanding of the main purpose of engagement and the forms that it takes is described with analysis of the drivers for engagement
being presented. A framework for the categorisation of engagement activity is proposed and justified in the second phase of the study. The case studies are evaluated using the framework with the conclusion that while there is
considerable activity it is not always at the most optimal level. There is clear scope for improvement if the relationship can be better understood and appropriate measures of performance developed. In the final phase, a set of grounded key performance indicators and a conceptual model for measuring the value of engagement are advanced which, together, provide a continuous improvement framework for higher education and industry engagement.


Kernel machines such as kernel SVM and kernel ridge regression usually construct high quality models; however, their use in real-world applications remains limited due to the high prediction cost. In this paper, we present two novel insights for improving the prediction efficiency of kernel machines. First, we show that by adding "pseudo landmark points" to the classical Nystrom kernel approximation in an elegant way, we can significantly reduce the prediction error without much additional prediction cost. Second, we provide a new theoretical analysis on bounding the error of the solution computed by using Nystrom kernel approximation method, and show that the error is related to the weighted kmeans objective function where the weights are given by the model computed from the original kernel. This theoretical insight suggests a new landmark point selection technique for the situation where we have knowledge of the original model. Based on these two insights, we provide a divide-and-conquer framework for improving the prediction speed. First, we divide the whole problem into smaller local subproblems to reduce the problem size. In the second phase, we develop a kernel approximation based fast prediction approach within each subproblem. We apply our algorithm to real world large-scale classification and regression datasets, and show that the proposed algorithm is consistently and significantly better than other competitors. For example, on the Covertype classification problem, in terms of prediction time, our algorithm achieves more than 10000 times speedup over the full kernel SVM, and a two-fold speedup over the state-of-the-art LDKL approach, while obtaining much higher prediction accuracy than LDKL (95.2% vs. 89.53%).


OBJECTIVE
To determine the accuracy with which 'frontline' hospital doctors interpret computed tomography brain scans.

DESIGN
Retrospective study.

SETTING
University teaching hospital, Hong Kong.

PARTICIPANTS
Medical and emergency room doctors.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE
Accuracy in correctly identifying features of acute stroke on 18 computed tomography brain scans.

RESULTS
Computed tomography brain scan images showing easily detectable haemorrhage and infarct were identified in 91% and 90% of scans, respectively; but difficult-to-interpret scans with subtle features of haemorrhage or infarct were only correctly identified in 46% and 45% of readings, respectively. More experienced doctors did not perform better than junior doctors (P=0.69; 95% confidence interval, -1.84 to 2.73) and the mean total score for doctors from the emergency department did not differ significantly from that of doctors from the medical department (P=0.57; 95% confidence interval, -2.98 to 1.67).

CONCLUSION
Early signs of infarct and small bleeds on computed tomography brain scans are not well recognised by doctors, regardless of clinical exposure or seniority. Ineligible patients may be treated with thrombolytic therapy as a result of such computed tomography scan misinterpretation.


The purpose of this paper is to present numerical solutions to PDE representations for derivatives pricing including bilateral credit valuation adjustments and funding costs valuation adjustment as presented in Burgard and Kjaer (2011). In particular, we use Crank-Nicolson finite-difference scheme to solve Black-Scholes risk-free PDE, for European and American options, and show how this numerical solution approach is extendable to solve the risky PDE for the value of the same derivative using the same finite-difference scheme and algorithm. Also, we present numerical solutions to valuation adjustments derived from PDE representations for European options through Monte Carlo simulation and numerical integration and we explore an empirical approach for American options through Monte Carlo simulation, least-squares and numerical integration.


Ultrafast structural dynamics of the metal to ligand charge transfer (MLCT) states of two copper bis-phenanthroline complexes were captured by using x-ray transient absorption (XTA) spectroscopy at the Linac Coherent Light Source and further described by theoretical calculations. These complexes have the general formula [Cu(I)(R)2]+, where R = 2,9-dimethyl-1,10-phenanthroline (dmp) and 2,9-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline disulfonic acid disodium salt (dpps). [Cu(I)(dmp)2]+ has methyl groups at the 2,9 positions of phenanthroline (phen) and adopts a pseudo-tetrahedral geometry. In contrast, [Cu(I)(dpps)2]+ possesses two bulky phenyl-sulfonate groups attached to each phen ligand that force the molecule to adopt a flattened tetrahedral geometry in the ground state. Previously, optical transient absorption (OTA) and synchrotron based XTA experiments with 100 ps time resolution have been employed to study the relationship between structural distortions and excited state relaxation pathways in the two complexes. However, the dynamics of the MLCT transition during the first few picoseconds after excitation in these complexes remained unclear because of limitations in element specificity in OTA and in the time resolution of synchrotron sources in XTA. In this experiment, the local coordination geometry and oxidation state of copper were probed with a temporal resolution of ∼300 fs. Unexpectedly, the depletion of the Cu(I) signal due to the MLCT transition was found to be non-impulsive in the case of [Cu(I)(dpps)2]+ with a time constant of 0.6 ps, while the Cu(I) depletion in [Cu(I)(dmp)2]+ was instantaneous within the 300 fs instrument response time. The slower Cu(I) depletion kinetics in [Cu(I)(dpps)2]+, previously unobserved in femtosecond OTA experiments, is likely due to intramolecular motions on the sub-picosecond time scale that could alter the localization of the transferred electron in the phen ligands.


This paper synthesises the evidence on the sexual and reproductive health situation of young people in India and explores what we know about underlying factors that place them at risk of or protect them from unsafe and unwanted sexual and reproductive health experiences. The picture that emerges suggests that substantial proportions of young people experience risky or unwanted sexual activity do not receive prompt or appropriate care and experience adverse reproductive health outcomes. Contextual factors such as poverty gender imbalances and lack of education or livelihood opportunities clearly increase the vulnerability of youth. Other factors at the family community and facility level may also exacerbate risk. While young peoples knowledge and awareness about sexual and reproductive health is increasing much of this knowledge remains superficial and ridden with myths misperceptions and a sense of invulnerability. Gender power imbalances make risky behaviours acceptable encourage secrecy and fear of disclosure and inhibit negotiation among partners. Lack of communication with parents and other trusted adults similarly keeps young people ill informed and unlikely to receive parental support or counsel in relation to sexual matters. Sexuality education remains inadequate and irrelevant to young peoples needs and services remain inaccessible unacceptable unaffordable and of indifferent quality. Several encouraging signs are however evident. The sexual and reproductive health needs of adolescents and young people are on the national agenda. There is growing recognition that young people themselves must be given a role in articulating designing implementing and evaluating such programmes. Finally experiences of a few programmes already exist that appear to successfully respond to young peoples sexual and reproductive health needs in innovative and acceptable ways. The paper concludes by recommending on the basis of available evidence a core set of promising actions that protect. (authors)


Tareev Clinic of Internal Diseases, Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia Management of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) includes anticoagulation for prevention of stroke and systemic embolism, improvement of AF-related symptoms by rate or rhythm control, and treatment for cardiovascular and other comorbidities. The structured characterization of AF should address four AF-related domains, that is, stroke risk, symptom severity, AF burden (type of AF, number and duration of episodes, etc.), and substrate severity. Various scores, i.e.CHA 2 DS 2 -VASc (stroke risk), HAS-BLED (bleeding risk), EHRA (severity of AF-related symptoms), and 2MACE (risk of cardiovascular events), can be used to estimate the risk of outcomes and for treatment decisions. Noteworthy, bleeding risk assessment using HAS-BLED score focuses attention on modifiable risk factors that should be managed to improve safety of anticoagulation, whereas a high bleeding risk score should not lead to withholding oral anticoagulants. New clini- cal and biomarker-based risk scores were developed. However, their potential advantages over existing scores should be confirmed in clinical studies.


The aim of this work was to test the effects of animal age on consumer perceptions of sheep meat quality. Experiment 1 tested eating quality scores (tenderness, liking of flavour, juiciness and overall liking) derived from untrained consumers of grilled M. longissimus lumborum (LL) or M. biceps femoris (BF) derived from Merino ewes ranging from 8.5 to 68.5 months of age. The ewes were derived from one farm and all received a pelleted diet (60% hay, 30% lupin grain and 10% barley grain) that sustained growth between 118 and 173 g/day for at least 22 days pre-slaughter. In experiment 2 consumer testing of grilled LL and roasted BF and M. semimembranosis (SM) was conducted on a commercial line of 12-month-old White Suffolk x Merino lambs (0 erupted incisor teeth) v. a line of Merino yearling sheep about 22 months old (with either 2 or 4 erupted incisor teeth). The results of experiment 1 showed a significant effect of muscle (LL>BF, P<0.001) and a cubic effect of animal age on the consumer scores for grilled steaks. The cubic relationship was due to meat from lamb (8.5 months) and hogget (20 months) having higher scores than those of older animals. There was a close relationship between the objective measures of tenderness and the consumer tenderness score (r 2 = 0.53, P<0.001). Results of experiment 2 indicated no significant difference between the grilled LL for the crossbred lamb and 22-month-old (2-4 teeth) Merino yearling sheep. However, the consumer scores for the roasted BF and SM were significantly depressed in the 2-4 tooth yearling Merino categories. In conclusion, this work clearly underpins the current Australian definition of lamb, lamb having better eating-quality attributes than older animals with fully erupted permanent incisor teeth, particularly in muscles from across the carcass. However, this work also highlights the eating quality attributes of older sheep (6 or more permanent incisor teeth) particularly for the LL, and suggests that negative influences of flavour associated with older sheep meat are minimal when the product is served in the absence of subcutaneous and intermuscular fat. Finally, the results suggest the possibility of a new 'yearling' sheep meat category based on animals in the 2-4-tooth dentition category.


Negative Poisson's ratio materials, or auxetics, have drawn attention for the past 30 years. The auxetic effect could lead to improved mechanical properties such as acoustic damping, indentation resistance, or crashworthiness. In this work, two 3D auxetic lattices are introduced. Auxeticity is achieved by design through pre-buckling of the lattice struts. The influence of geometrical parameters on the effective elastic properties is investigated using computational homogenization method with periodic boundary conditions. Effective Young's modulus is 3D mapped to reveal anisotropy and identify spatial orientations of interest. The effective Poisson ratio is computed for various geometric configurations to characterize auxeticity. Finally, the influence of effective elastic properties on energy dissipation under compression is explored for elastoplastic lattices with different loading directions, using finite element simulations. Results suggest that loading 3D auxetic lattices along their stiffest direction maximizes their crashworthiness.


Use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) has been associated with increased risk of breast cancer, and it is possible that this reflects a positive association between HRT use and risk of proliferative forms of benign breast disease (BBD), conditions which are thought to have pre-malignant potential. The purpose of the present investigation was to study the association between HRT use and risk of benign proliferative epithelial disorders of the breast (BPED). The study was undertaken using the 56,837 women within the Canadian National Breast Screening Study (NBSS) who completed self-administered lifestyle and dietary questionnaires. (The NBSS is a randomized controlled trial of screening for breast cancer in women aged 40-59 at recruitment.) During the course of the follow-up period, a total of 691 women in the dietary cohort were diagnosed with biopsy-confirmed incident BPED. For comparative purposes, a sub-cohort consisting of a random sample of 5681 women (including 65 of the subjects with BPED) was selected from the full dietary cohort. After exclusions for various reasons, the analyses were based on 691 cases and 5443 non-cases. In post-menopausal women, in whom most of the reported use occurred, there was a positive association between duration of HRT use and risk of BPED, the adjusted incidence rate ratio (95% confidence interval) in those who had used HRT for more than 8 years being 1.70 (1.06-2.72). There were too few cases of atypical BPED for meaningful analysis, but results for those whose BPED showed no atypia were similar to the overall results. Further analyses conducted separately in the screened and control arms of the NBSS were similar to those observed overall, as were those conducted separately for screen-detected and interval-detected BPED.


Functional recovery of neural networks after injury requires a series of signaling events similar to the embryonic processes that governed initial network construction. Neural morphallaxis, a form of nervous system regeneration, involves reorganization of adult neural connectivity patterns. Neural morphallaxis in the worm, Lumbriculus variegatus, occurs during asexual reproduction and segmental regeneration, as body fragments acquire new positional identities along the anterior-posterior axis. Ectopic head (EH) formation, induced by ventral nerve cord lesion, generated morphallactic plasticity including the reorganization of interneuronal sensory fields and the induction of a molecular marker of neural morphallaxis. Morphallactic changes occurred only in segments posterior to an EH. Neither EH formation, nor neural morphallaxis was observed after dorsal body lesions, indicating a role for nerve cord injury in morphallaxis induction. Furthermore, a hierarchical system of neurobehavioral control was observed, where anterior heads were dominant and an EH controlled body movements only in the absence of the anterior head. Both suppression of segmental regeneration and blockade of asexual fission, after treatment with boric acid, disrupted the maintenance of neural morphallaxis, but did not block its induction. Therefore, segmental regeneration (i.e., epimorphosis) may not be required for the induction of morphallactic remodeling of neural networks. However, on-going epimorphosis appears necessary for the long-term consolidation of cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the morphallaxis of neural circuitry.


The thesis proposes that there have been a series of responses in visual
practice to Laura Mulvey's article 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema'
(1975) from 1975 to 2000. As Mulvey's article was and still is an exemplary
text its contribution to film and visual theory is well documented, however, this
has overshadowed any contribution the article has made to visual practices. As Mulvey, at the time of writing the article, was an avant-garde film maker
the thesis examines how the article emerged from a context of visual practice.
The first chapter establishes the location of 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative
Cinema', broadly summarising its arguments and the commentaries that
proceeded from it, noting that many of these commentaries failed to
acknowledge its emergence from visual practices. The next chapter explores
the context of Mulvey's film-making practice, its content and location amongst
other film makers and groups contemporary with it. Chapter 3 looks at the
work of key feminist film makers during the 'visual pleasure' moment that
immediately followed the publication of Mulvey's article and re-states their
importance. The following chapter broadens the argument and examines two
visual practices that were not film-based, photo-text and tape-slide, but which
took up Mulvey's ideas strategically to explore language and sexual difference
in the 1980s. The final chapter looks at how questions of pleasure became
vital for a generation of black, gay and lesbian artists during the 1990s in
response to, and even in rejection of, Mulvey's earlier work. My aim is to highlight some key practices, mostly in the UK, exploring their
heterogeneous nature through context and location, to show a network of
practices where Mulvey's legacy can be seen through shared concerns and
approaches. This reconstitutes a history and argues that Mulvey's work is
part of a framework, which has a legacy to practice, as well as to theory.


Accurate fishing ground maps are necessary for fisheries monitoring. In Velondriake locally managed marine area (LMMA) we observed that the nomenclature of shared fishing sites (FS) is villages dependent. Additionally, the level of illiteracy makes data collection more complicated, leading to data collectors improvising when recording FS. In this case study for Velondriake we opted for a participatory approach giving special consideration to local knowledge in mapping octopus fishing grounds. Other techniques (single or multiple GPS points) have been tried but gave overlapping maps for neighboring FS, and do not reflect reality. Local fishers know the exact extent of their fishing grounds and are able to draw them accurately. We utilized a printed habitat map or Google Earth satellite imagery, and asked fishers to draw in each FS. Using this technique, 325 sites were identified from 13 villages, without any overlaps or duplications, making a valuable contribution to fisheries management efforts. This supports the contention that local knowledge, and the participation of local fishers, is crucial in conservation. This approach strengthens the relationship between scientists, managers and local communities. This technique is cost effective and adaptable to each situation, and is now widely used by Malagasy fishing communities.


Abstract The prevalence and profile of patients presenting with psychosomatic complaints at a rural practice Introduction: The general practitioner is often consulted by patients with complaints in which psychological factors have a significant influence on the origin, continuation or course of a disease. It is important to identify the condition as a psychosomatic disorder, since the patient can be treated more effectively if he or she gains insight into the underlying problem and the causal factor can be addressed. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of psychosomatic complaints in patients visiting a general practice. It was also investigated whether variables such as gender, age and population group play a role with regard to the prevalence of the complaints. In addition, it was determined which types of complaints and stressors occur. Methods: The sample for this cross-sectional study consisted of all patients who visited the two general practitioners in a rural practice in the Northern Cape during a six-week period. Results: Of the 466 patients seen, 78 (16.7%; 95% CI 13.3% to 20.1%) presented with psychosomatic complaints. There were no significant differences between genders or population groups. In patients with psychosomatic complaints the digestive system was themost common organ system with complaints and the greatest stressor wasthe family. Discussion: The study indicates that a significant percentage of patients present with a psychosomatic complaint and insight into the causal stressors. The study thus confirms the importance of a holistic and preventative approach to patient care in a general practice.


Background: Major research contributions aimed at explaining the association between economic inequality and health have concentrated on the plausibility of the material deprivation and psychosocial factors pathways. However, little work has analysed the reciprocal associations between public policies and inequality and their effect on health. Methods: A conceptual framework was first proposed explaining how the public policies–inequality feedback can influence health outcomes via material deprivation and psychosocial factors. Then, a critical review of the literature was conducted and an analysis of the health effects of the globalisation–inequality feedback as a case study. Results: Different bodies of evidence seem to give support to the hypothesis of a public policies–inequality feedback influencing health-related outcomes. This seems to be particularly true when considering globalisation policies. Since the widespread adoption of the so-called "Washington Consensus", economic inequalities have sharply increased worldwide. The rise in inequality has, in turn, further consolidated the adoption of these policies through an increasing "democratic deficit". The reciprocal effects of globalisation and inequality have produced adverse health outcomes between and within societies through both material deprivation and psychosocial stress. Conclusions: Public policies and economic inequality are inextricably interrelated and can affect health through multiple, indirect, reciprocal pathways.


The aim of this study was to determine the diagnostic value of an ROC curve of the antepartum foramen ovale (AFO) size and the ratio of FO size to aorta (AO) size (FO/AO) for the prediction of puerperal atrial septal defect in different gestational weeks (DGWs). A total of 958 cases were divided into five groups according to number of gestational weeks. Comparisons of FO size, AO size and FO/AO were determined by variance analysis. The correlations between FO size, AO size and gestational age were determined using regression analysis and comparisons between atrial septal defect (ASD) diagnosed in DGWs and normal cardiac FO size and FO/AO were analyzed by t-test. ROC curve analysis was used for FO size and FO/AO to predict the demarcation point of puerperal ASD (pASD). The differences between FO size and AO size in the five groups at DGWs were statistically significant (P=0.000). The sizes of FO and AO increased with gestational age. The differences among pASD, normal cardiac FO size and FO/AO were statistically significant (P=0.000). FO size in the five DGW groups (18–22, 23–26, 27–30, 31–34 and 35–40 weeks) was able to predict the demarcation points of pASD, which were 5.02, 5.15, 6.55, 8.55 and 7.90 mm, respectively. The prediction of pASD with AFO size and FO/AO was accurate and may provide reliable reference values in the clinic.


In the Mediterranean, the increasing social impacts of water scarcity are growing, but effective measures to manage such scarcity are difficult to implement due to the variability of stakeholders and the weak means to handle new policies. To ameliorate the future of water management in the region, communication between stakeholders has to be improved. The Water Framework Directive (WFD 2000) defines a European framework for water management and protection at each hydrological basin level and gives priority to environment conservation through participatory and consultative programmes. In the perspective of developing and analysing a set of comprehensive scenarios of Europe freshwater futures up to 2050, SCENES project (Water Scenarios for Europe and for Neighbouring States) suggests the use of fuzzy cognitive mapping (FCM) as an Information and Communication tool significantly able to support public participation. The present paper reports on the use of FCM in a typical Mediterranean area, the Candelaro river basin in southern Italy, to elicit public perceptions on the current pressures on and state of water resources. Based on these perceptions and down-scaling the global scenarios, local visions of future changes were developed and their potential environmental and socio-economic effects explored.


In seagrass habitats, high structural complexity often enhances prey survival by reducing predator-prey encounter rates and predator foraging success. However, faunal density and biomass typically increase with seagrass structural complexity, such that variation in prey or predator density may contribute to or alter relationships between structural complexity and prey survival. We determined whether variability in prey density alters relationships between seagrass structural complexity and (1) prey survival, (2) predator-prey encounter rates, and (3) behavioral components of predator-prey interactions in eelgrass Zostera marina habitat. Using transplanted eelgrass in laboratory mesocosms, we compared trends in meso predator (juvenile giant kelpfish Heterostichus rostratus) feeding success and behavior, and predator avoidance behavior by prey (grass shrimp Hippolyte californiensis) between experiments in which we (1) held prey density constant while increasing eelgrass shoot density, or (2) increased prey density while increasing eelgrass shoot density. We found that increasing prey density (but not eelgrass density) enhanced proportional prey survival and decreased the probability that mesopredators would attack prey, whereas increasing eelgrass density (but not prey density) decreased the likelihood that prey would attempt to escape from mesopredator attack. Predator-prey encounter rates were in - fluenced both by prey density and eelgrass density, whereas mesopredator attack success was not influenced by either eelgrass density or prey density. Our results suggest that variable prey density modifies relationships between habitat structure and prey survival through a variety of behavioral mechanisms, and that factors that covary with habitat structure, such as prey density, may alter the effects of habitat structure on predation.


Workers effective access to mandatory non-wage benefits is key to achieving decent working conditions in the Ghanaian labor market. Thus, this paper investigates the effects of union presence on workersO reported access to non-wage benefits. The study draws its data from the 2012/ 2013 Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS VI) and specifies a Structural Equation Model (SEM) that controls for endogeneity and potential sample-selection biases. We find that unions have statistically significant facilitation effects among workers in Ghana, that is, unions appear to play an important role in improving workersO awareness of their work benefits. Furthermore, informal and larger firms exhibit lower facilitation effects. It is also found that despite the statutory nature of these non-wage benefits, non-compliance was present, even in the formal sector, particularly with respect to maternity leave benefits, which indicates a need for greater enforcement of these laws.


Vectorial transport of endogenous substances, drugs, and toxins is an important function of polarized cells. We have constructed a double-transfected Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cell line permanently expressing a recombinant uptake transporter for organic anions in the basolateral membrane and an ATP-dependent export pump for anionic conjugates in the apical membrane. Basolateral uptake was mediated by the human organic anion transporter 8 (OATP8; symbol SLC21A8) and subsequent apical export by the multidrug resistance protein 2 (MRP2; symbol ABCC2). Under physiological conditions, both transport proteins are strongly expressed in hepatocytes and contribute to the hepatobiliary elimination of organic anions. Expression and localization of OATP8 and MRP2 in MDCK cells growing on Transwell membrane inserts was demonstrated by immunoblotting and confocal laser scanning microscopy. (3)H-Labeled sulfobromophthalein (BSP) was a substrate for both transport proteins and was transferred from the basolateral to the apical compartment at a rate at least six times faster by double-transfected MDCK-MRP2/OATP8 cells than by single-transfected MDCK-OATP8 or MDCK-MRP2 cells. Vectorial transport at a much higher rate by double-transfected than by single-transfected cells was also observed for the (3)H-labeled substrates leukotriene C(4), 17 beta-glucuronosyl estradiol, and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, for the fluorescent anionic substrate fluo-3, and for the antibiotic rifampicin. Inhibition studies indicated that intracellular formation of S-(2,4-dinitrophenyl)-glutathione from 2,4-chlorodinitrobenzene selectively inhibits the transcellular transport of [(3)H]BSP at the site of MRP2-mediated export. The double-transfected cells provide a useful system for the identification of transport substrates and transport inhibitors including drug candidates.


Through a critical reading of the English decision Ms B v An NHS Hospital Trust , and the more recent Australian decision, Brightwater Care Group (Inc) v Rossiter , this article examines three fictions that have been crucial in protecting the choice to die in the context of treatment withdrawal whilst maintaining a prohibition on assisting individuals who wish to die. These are: (i) a competent patient can refuse medical treatment for any or no reason, even if it means they will die ; (ii) the doctor's removal of life-supporting technology does not entail responsibility for the resulting death; and (iii) such deaths are natural deaths. The argument developed here is that when patients and doctors disagree about whether and how death should occur in the treatment withdrawal context, the conceptual space created by law to distance these deaths from culpable deaths is threatened. It is in these moments of dispute that the fictions are challenged, their fragility exposed, and law's underlying ambivalence about the choice to die revealed.


The time of adolescence is marked by enhanced emotional experiences and difficulties with regulating one's emotions. One way to improve the adolescent's ability to regulate their emotions is to let them practice mindfulness meditation. The motivational drive behind this thesis is the question of what forms of mindfulness meditation are needed to give the highest increase in their emotion regulationabilities. One problem is that while there exist neural studies on mindfulness meditation for adults, the research field of adolescent meditation lacks them. Because neural studies are needed to adequately answer this question, and the lack of brain imaging tools for this thesis, the focus here was to conduct some groundwork for this discussion. The first aim was to investigate the neural effects of mindfulness meditation on emotion regulation in adults and the second aim was to investigate to what extent we can generalize these neural effects to adolescents. To be able to theoretical discuss the second aim, neural and psychological studies on mindfulness meditation and emotion regulation were used as a base. The studies were grouped into five sub-categories based on age group and research field and then discussed with the help of developmental studies. Adult meditators had stronger functionality in regulatory brain regions than non-meditators during meditation and during the perception of negative stimuli. The discussion about the generalization of the adult neural patterns to adolescents showed that the findings were too diverse to come to any useful conclusions. Empirical and conceptual improvements, along with neural meditation studies on adolescents, are needed to improve the research field in both age groups.


Business plays a powerful role in contemporary society, but this increasing role has been accompanied by a growing concern regarding the social and moral impact of enterprising endeavour. One of the greatest challenges of our time is the need to channel entrepreneurial energies in ways that benefit, rather than harm, society. This research contributes to the development of a conceptual framework that addresses the practical issues at the intersection of business and society. The tension between the realms of business and society has revealed gaps in the management literature on a variety of levels. This research is directed toward the deep-seated assumptions that are commonly seen to govern and motivate contemporary business. The dominant economic and moral theories are no longer convincingly reconciled with observable practices, justifying the search for an alternative lens that can sufficiently bridge the gap. Epistemologically, it appears there is a paradigm shift taking place; a challenge to the set of assumptions, and very purpose, which business is seen to serve. The purpose of this study is to engage this challenge by identifying and outlining an alternative lens for resolving the oft-conflicting realms of business and society. After reviewing prominent contending paradigms, a pre-modern theory of virtue is shown to hold promising characteristics for addressing the present gaps while resolving the shortcomings of the dominant paradigm. This research attempts to answer the following question: How, if at all, does Aristotle's theory of virtue contribute to a better understanding of the strategic and normative issues at the intersection of business and society? This investigation begins by reviving an Aristotelian theory of virtue that is more dynamic and holistic than implied in recent studies. Aided by the work of Alasdair Maclntyre, Aristotelian concepts have been granted a philosophical grounding and definitional framework upon which contemporary insights are built, and conflicting interests are reconciled. After recasting Aristotle's theory of virtue in this fashion, it is possible to direct this conceptual lens to the study of organisations. A suitable unit of analysis has been found in entrepreneurship. The entrepreneurial process is shown to be amenable to such an exploration, due in part to its distinctive capacity to unify individual and institution, and at the same time, psychological and sociological considerations. Additionally, a rich level of analysis is identified in organisational culture. The cultural paradigm of an organisation provides an optimal setting for an inquiry based on Aristotelian concepts. In developing and directing the conceptual lens in this way, the methodological parameters of this study are significantly determined. This study explores the paradigmatic value of the theory of virtue, and attempts to ground Aristotle's theory in contemporary business practice. To this end, an inductive approach develops and compares cultural sensemaking as located in five consultancies. Inductive methods and indepth fieldwork were employed to obtain a deep understanding of the cultural paradigm of each venture. Comparative case research prescriptions were used for their capacity to provide new insight into phenomenon that has proven elusive to empirical investigation. Individually and comparatively, these five ventures have yielded a number of significant findings and practical implications for viewing business through the lens of virtue. In response to the research question, key components of a cultural paradigm of virtue are established, virtue is located in an organisational setting, and the powerful effect of Aristotelian concepts are studied among comparative contexts. This study was facilitated by the creation of an interactive joint inquiry instrument that is introduced, refined and applied herein. Through an iterative process, traversing frequently between the findings and emerging theory, a grounded approach was employed for divulging patterns and themes within and between specific contexts. As such, this investigation has not only succeeded in grounding the theory of virtue in business, it has shown the unique, practical benefits of this emerging theory for deepening the dialogue and resolving pressing social and moral conflicts. This investigation makes an original contribution in three significant ways: 1) offering a new interpretation of existing philosophy and scholarship, 2) providing a new synthesis of contexts and concepts, and 3) bringing new evidence to bear on an old issue. More specifically, this research has successfully applied Aristotle's theory of virtue to contemporary business, grounded virtue in organisational culture, and developed its components into a comprehensive paradigm that unifies normative and strategic claims, thus bridging the gap between theory and practice. Finally, in the entrepreneurial process, this research has identified a champion for establishing a revolutionary, pre-modern paradigm of business.


The structure of fitness landscapes is critical for understanding adaptive protein evolution (e.g. antimicrobial resistance, affinity maturation, etc.). Due to limited throughput in fitness measurements, previous empirical studies on fitness landscapes were confined to either the neighborhood around the wild type sequence, involving mostly single and double mutants, or a combinatorially complete subgraph involving only two amino acids at each site. In reality, however, the dimensionality of protein sequence space is higher (20L, L being the length of the relevant sequence) and there may be higher-order interactions among more than two sites. To study how these features impact the course of protein evolution, we experimentally characterized the fitness landscape of four sites in the IgG-binding domain of protein G, containing 204 = 160,000 variants. We found that the fitness landscape was rugged and direct paths of adaptation were often constrained by pairwise epistasis. However, while direct paths were blocked by reciprocal sign epistasis, we found systematic evidence that such evolutionary traps could be circumvented by "extra-dimensional bypass". Extra dimensions in sequence space – with a different amino acid at the site of interest or an additional interacting site – open up indirect paths of adaptation via gain and subsequent loss of mutations. These indirect paths alleviate the constraint on reaching high fitness genotypes via selectively accessible trajectories, suggesting that the heretofore neglected dimensions of sequence space may completely change our views on how proteins evolve.


Aims Financial incentives were the single most effective intervention for smoking cessation in pregnancy in a recent Cochrane Review, but based on a few small trials in the United States using only 7-day point prevalence measures of cessation. This study estimates (a) prolonged cessation in an unselected population of English pregnant smokers who are offered financial incentives for quitting and (b) 'gaming', i.e. false reporting of smoking status to enter the scheme or gain an incentive. Design Single-arm intervention study Setting Antenatal clinic and community Participants A total of 239 pregnant smokers enrolled into the financial incentive scheme, attending for maternity care at one hospital in an area of high deprivation in England over a 42-week period. Measurements Smoking cessation at delivery and 6 months postpartum, assessed using salivary cotinine; gaming assessed using urinary and salivary cotinine at enrolment, 28 and 36 weeks gestation, and 2 days and 6 months postpartum. Findings Thirty-nine per cent (239 of 615) of smokers were enrolled into the scheme, 60% (143 of 239) of whom made a quit attempt. Of those enrolled, 20% [48 of 239; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 14.9%, 25.1%] were quit at delivery and 10% (25 of 239; 95% CI = 6.2%, 13.8%) at 6 months postpartum. There was no evidence that women gamed to enter the scheme, but evidence that 4% (10 of 239) of those enrolled gamed on one or more occasions to gain vouchers. Conclusions Enrolment on an incentive scheme in an unselected English cohort of pregnant smokers was associated with prolonged cessation rates comparable to those reported in US trials. Rates of gaming were arguably insufficiently high to invalidate the use of such schemes.


The proposed approach (CICMFCSA), firstly, compose the one-plane image using the pixel's trichromatic coefficients. One-plane image in traditional square structure is represented in Spiral Architecture for compression. On this Spiral Architecture image, proposed modified Fractal grey level image coding algorithm (MFCSA) is applied to get encoded image. In this modified Fractal coding, the numbers of domain blocks are optimized from 343 to 10 using local search. Extensive experiments are carried out on UCID - An Uncompressed Color Image Database. The proposed approach minimizes the encoding process time because of optimized domain blocks and one dimensional structure of Spiral Architecture and falls in the lossy compression category. The results of SFC and our approach are compared with respect to the time.


ABSTRACT Forty-four rock samples from the Landana section, belonging to the historical Dartevelle collection of the Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA) at Tervuren, Belgium, were palynologically processed and analysed. Systematic analysis of the samples from the Landana sea cliff locality has revealed 90 dinoflagellate cyst taxa spanning an interval that ranges at least from the middle Paleocene to the late Eocene/early Oligocene. This locality represents the first extensive sub-equatorial African Paleogene dinoflagellate cyst record. Dinoflagellate cyst occurrences were calibrated and evaluated against newly revised foraminiferal ranges. This novel dinoflagellate cyst biostratigraphic record was compared and correlated with contemporaneous records relatively close by in the Gulf of Guinea, as well as with records from more distant locations such as Antarctica, Australia and New Zealand. A preliminary dinoflagellate cyst zonation is here proposed comprising three zones and five unzoned yet otherwise distinct intervals. The lower part of the Landana section records a large portion of the early to middle/late Selandian, which is made apparent by the presence of taxa such as Isabelidinium cingulatum, Isabelidinium? viborgense, and Spinidinium densispinatum. The Thanetian through Lutetian part of the section is more fragmentary and is devoid of any significant marker taxa normally typical for this time interval elsewhere. The upper part of the record is largely devoid of dinoflagellate cysts, with the few dinoflagellate cyst-bearing samples pointing to an Eocene to early Oligocene age. Dinoflagellate cyst assemblages are relatively variable and often largely dominated by a single particular taxon or complex. We record remarkably abundant peridinioid cysts signalling high palaeoproductivity for protracted periods of time, resulting from either heightened terrestrial influence or enhanced upwelling.


Cetacean Morbillivirus (CMV) has caused several epizootics in cetaceans globally. An unusual mortality event among Tursiops aduncus in Perth, Western Australia (WA) coincided with increased strandings statewide in 2009. Necropsy of two dolphins identified mycotic encephalitis and pneumonia as the cause of death, respectively. Morbilliviral antigen was detected in multiple tissues using immunohistochemistry and confirmed by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) using primers for morbilliviral N and P genes. Sequencing of amplified RT-PCR products (approximately 238 bp in length from the N gene & 425 bp from the P gene) confirmed the presence of CMV in both dolphins and facilitated phylogenetic analysis. The N and P genes from the WA dolphins had respectively, 79% - 83% and 75% - 79% nucleotide identity to the highly conserved N and P genes of various strains of CMV. There was only 79% - 83% identity between the N and P nucleotide sequences from the WA dolphins and a variant from a Tursiops truncatus that stranded in Queensland (QLD), Australia in 2010. This is the first report of CMV-related mortality for T. aduncus in Australian waters and for the Indian Ocean. Preliminary phylogenetic data suggest that the WA variant is distinct from all other morbilliviruses, and is closely related to, but divergent from, other cetacean morbilliviruses. It is distinct from the QLD CMV variant, which is more closely related to the CMV isolates from the Northern Hemisphere. Furthermore, the WA variant appears to be the most closely related marine mammal morbillivirus to the terrestrial genus members identified to date. Evidence of a divergent CMV has implications for understanding the evolutionary history of CMV and supports ongoing surveillance and archival sampling to elucidate the role of CMV and other pathogens in future mortalities.


Background The objective of this research was to develop a caregiver-reported clinical outcome assessment (COA) measure designed to assess observable behaviors of children, ages 4 to 12 years, with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) for supporting labeling claims of treatment benefit. Methods Development of the measure included a review of the literature and existing instruments, conceptual disease model development, concept elicitation focus groups, item generation, and cognitive debriefing interviews. Results Predominant characteristics and behaviors of ASD identified by the literature and instrument reviews included sociability, communication deficits, stereotypy, inattention and hyperactivity, irritability, anxiety, and familial impact. In each of the 10 instruments reviewed, evidence of content validity was limited or nonexistent. Predominant themes arose across 8 major categories during concept elicitation. A total of 27 concepts were identified through focus group feedback and formed the basis for item development and cognitive pre-testing. Revisions to the items yielded a final version of a daily diary containing 21 items assessing observable behaviors and characteristics of ASD in children 4 to 12 years old. Conclusions The Observable Behaviors of ASD Scale (OBAS) was developed as a self-administered, caregiver-reported measure containing 8 predominant themes. Items are scored on one of two 5-point ordinal categorical response scales, and the recall period for each item is "the past 24 hours." This research provides evidence that the OBAS is content valid for assessing treatment benefit, which was found to be lacking in other instruments.


We investigate the Zariski closure of the projective equivalence class of a matrix. New results are presented regarding the matrices in this variety and their matroids, and we give equations for the variety. We also discuss the K-polynomial of the closure of a projective equivalence class, and two other geometric invariants that can be obtained from this.


The potential safety benefits of electronic stability control (ESC) systems for motorcoach buses operating within the United States are analyzed. "Motorcoaches" are defined as flat-front, high-platform buses equipped for intercity or long-distance travel. In recent years, ESC has increasingly become available as standard or optional equipment on motorcoaches. However, national crash databases do not include information that can be used to identify ESC-equipped buses. Moreover, even if the buses could be identified, the number of cases in available crash data is not sufficient to evaluate the safety performance of the technology in its current stage of deployment, particularly given the low number of motorcoach crashes. In light of these limitations, all recent fatal motorcoach crashes were examined by using information from the accident reports, formal studies of the National Transportation Safety Board, and information in reconstruction reports to estimate the likelihood that the crash could have been prevented or mitigated had the motorcoach been fitted with functioning ESC technology. Results indicate that, if it is assumed that ESC had been fitted to all motorcoach buses, annual savings of $25 million could have been realized from loss-of-control and rollover crashes prevented. Even though the financial benefits for motorcoaches are limited because loss-of-control crash events are rare, the nonmonetary value of this technology is likely to exceed the financial benefits because motorcoaches transport the public and the reasonable expectation is that effective safety technology should be used even if the exposure is low. In particular, the risk of passenger casualties in a high-speed crash is much greater for a motorcoach than for other vehicles because of the large number of people on board.


Complex software-intensive systems, especially distributed systems, generate logs for troubleshooting. The logs are text messages recording system events, which can help engineers determine the system's runtime status. This paper proposes a novel approach named ADR (stands for Anomaly Detection by workflow Relations), which employs matrix nullspace to mine numerical relations from log data. The mined relations can be used for both offline and online anomaly detection and facilitate fault diagnosis. We have evaluated ADR on log data collected from two distributed systems. ADR successfully mined 87 and 669 numerical relations from the logs and used them to detect anomalies with high precision and recall. For online anomaly detection, ADR employs PSO (Particle Swarm Optimization) to find the optimal sliding windows' size and achieves fast anomaly detection. The experimental results confirm that ADR is effective for both offline and online anomaly detection.


Lipid-linked oligosaccharides (LLOs) plays an important role in the N-glycosylation
pathway as the donor substrate of oligosaccharyltransferases (OSTs), which are respon-
sible for the en bloc transfer of glycan chains onto a nascent polypeptide. The lipid
component of LLO in both eukarya and archaea consists of a dolichol, and an unde-
caprenol in prokarya, whereas the number of isoprene units may change between species.
Given the potential relevance of LLOs and their related enzymes to diverse biotechno-
logical applications, obtaining reliable LLO models from distinct domains of life could
support further studies on complex formation and their processing by OSTs, as well
as protein engineering on such systems. In this work, molecular modeling, such as
quantum mechanics calculations, molecular dynamics simulations, and metadynamics
were employed to study eukaryotic (Glc3-Man9-GlcNAc2-PP-Dolichol), bacterial (Glc1-
GalNAc5-Bac1-PP-Undecaprenol) and archaeal (Glc1-Man1-Gal1-Man1-Glc1-Gal1-Glc1-
P-Dolichol) LLO in membrane bilayers. Microsecond molecular dynamics simulations
and metadynamics calculations of LLOs revealed that glycan chains are more prone to
interact with the membrane lipid head groups, while the PP linkages are positioned at
the lipid phosphate head groups level. Dynamics of isoprenoid chains embedded within
the bilayer are described and membrane dynamics and its related properties are also
investigated. Overall, there are similarities regarding the structural and dynamics of
the eukaryotic, the bacterial and the archaeal LLOs in bilayers, which can support the
comprehension of their association with OSTs. This data may support future studies
on the transferring mechanism of the oligosaccharide chain to an acceptor protein.


Set and multiset variables in constraint programming have typically been represented using subset bounds. However, this is a weak representation that neglects potentially useful information about a set such as its cardinality. For set variables, the length-lex (LL) representation successfully provides information about the length (cardinality) and position in the lexicographic ordering. For multiset variables, where elements can be repeated, we consider richer representations that take into account additional information. We study eight different representations in which we maintain bounds according to one of the eight different orderings: length-(co)lex (LL/LC), variety-(co)lex (VL/VC), length-variety-(co)lex (LVL/LVC), and variety-length-(co)lex (VLL/VLC) orderings. These representations integrate together information about the cardinality, variety (number of distinct elements in the multiset), and position in some total ordering. Theoretical and empirical comparisons of expressiveness and compactness of the eight representations suggest that length-variety-(co)lex (LVL/LVC) and variety-length-(co)lex (VLL/VLC) usually give tighter bounds after constraint propagation. We implement the eight representations and evaluate them against the subset bounds representation with cardinality and variety reasoning. Results demonstrate that they offer significantly better pruning and runtime.


Recently there has been an explosion of research into the genetics of caste determination, especially following the discovery of systems where queen-worker caste determination has a strong genetic influence. In this review we collate and interpret research on genetic caste determination in ants and discuss this research within the historical framework of caste determination in the social insects. While early researchers disagreed over the relative importance of rearing environment and genes on caste determination, the notion that caste is determined by environment had been largely supported by both theory and empirical results – until relatively recently. The growing utility of molecular markers, together with breeding studies and other quantitative genetic approaches, has now demonstrated a genetic component to caste across numerous social insect taxa. The strength of the genetic component varies and may often remain highly conditional on the environment. In extreme cases, caste is determined almost exclusively by genotype. We review environmental and genetic factors that affect caste determination, summarize recent evidence for weak and strong genetic caste determination, and discuss the evolution of these systems. Genotypes that produce queen-biased caste ratios are often described as cheaters, and here we emphasize that the evolutionary dynamics of genetic caste determination involves the coevolution (often antagonistic) of biasing and restorer genes expressed in interacting nestmates. The evolutionary importance of such conflicts over caste fate remains unclear, but in some cases may lead to widespread dependent lineage systems, sperm parasitism, and workerless social parasites.


The anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) is an effective tool to measure the rock petrofabric and it allow analyzing the tectonic stress. The southwest boundary of Gondwana in South America is the counter-part of the Cape fold belt of South Africa and its geological evolution is still a subject of debate. Samples of different localities of this sector were analyzed with the AMS technique, from Buenos Aires, La Pampa and Mendoza province. For rocks of Permian age, there is a clear regional magnetic signature indicating a NW-SE elongation direction and a NE-SW shortening. The ASM patterns obtained in the oldest rocks are complex, probably as the result of stress interference in the magnitudes, space and time with different pulses of the orogenic activity developed from the Middle Devonian to the Permian. In the southwest of Gondwana, small continental plates were accreted to the main continent mass during the Middle Devonian. The Permian deformation has been interpreted as the consequence of a paleogeographic re-organization of Gondwana that moves to lowest latitudes to makes the Pangea continent during the Triassic. This younger deformation evidences an orogenic front migration and attenuation to the foreland basin.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the impact of pyloric stenosis on the prognosis after D2 radical resection for advanced distal gastric cancer.

METHODS
Clinical data of 284 patients with advanced distal gastric cancer who underwent D2 radical resection from January 1998 to December 2004 were analyzed retrospectively. Clinicopathologic variables, survival outcomes, and postoperative morbidity and mortality were compared between patients who developed pyloric stenosis (n=69) and those without pyloric stenosis (n=215).

RESULTS
The 5-year survival rate was 38.8% in patients with pyloric stenosis and 62.4% in those without pyloric stenosis, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Cox regression model showed that pyloric stenosis, tumor size, depth of invasion, and lymph node involvement were independent predictors for survival. There were no significant differences between the two groups in postoperative morbidity (13.0% vs. 10.2%, P>0.05) or mortality (2.9% vs. 1.4%, P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONS
Pyloric stenosis is associated with poor survival for patients undergoing D2 radical resection for advanced distal gastric cancer. However, pyloric stenosis does not increase postoperative morbidity and mortality related to surgery.


This article introduces a novel approach for generating agenda-related estimates of the policy positions of political parties from party manifestos and expert surveys. We show that current party estimates provide for little variation across policy areas and over time. In response, we propose to relate the issue-specific ideological preference profiles of political parties to the legislative context. For the dimensional representation of policy positions of political parties our procedure weights the issue-specific preference profiles by their prominence on the agenda of each policy area. We apply this procedure to EU legislation and locate national political parties on a national/supranational and left/ right dimension, which can be used for the analysis of Council decision-making.


The accepted wisdom is that combinational circuits must have acyclic (i.e., loop-free or feed-forward) topologies. And yet simple examples suggest that this need not be so. Prior work advocated the design of cyclic combinational circuits (i.e., circuits with loops or feedback paths). A methodology was proposed for optimizing circuits by introducing cycles at the technologyindependent stage of synthesis. Efficient synthesis is predicated on efficient analysis. Prior methods for analysis were based on binary decision diagrams (BDDs). In this paper, a much more efficient technique is proposed based on Boolean satisfiability (SAT). Validation is performed both at a network level, in terms of functional dependencies, as well as at a gate level, after mapping to a library. When mapping breaks the validity of a combinational circuit, SAT-based analysis returns satisfying assignments; these assignments are used to modify the mapping in order to ensure that the circuit remains combinational. The effectiveness of the analysis and mapping algorithms is demonstrated on standard benchmarks.


The relatively new sukuk (or Islamic debt securities) markets have grown to more than US $800 billion over the past decade, and continue to grow at a rate of around 20-30 per cent per year. Arguably the first of its kind, this path-breaking book provides a highly unique reference tool relating to key issues surrounding sukuk markets, which are found in 12 major financial centres, including Kuala Lumpur, London and Zurich.


A Wall Street Journal Best Book of 2013 A world-class physicist and a citizen scientist combine forces to teach Physics 101--the DIY way The Theoretical Minimum is a book for anyone who has ever regretted not taking physics in college--or who simply wants to know how to think like a physicist. In this unconventional introduction, physicist Leonard Susskind and hacker-scientist George Hrabovsky offer a first course in physics and associated math for the ardent amateur. Unlike most popular physics books--which give readers a taste of what physicists know but shy away from equations or math--Susskind and Hrabovsky actually teach the skills you need to do physics, beginning with classical mechanics, yourself. Based on Susskind's enormously popular Stanford University-based (and YouTube-featured) continuing-education course, the authors cover the minimum--the theoretical minimum of the title--that readers need to master to study more advanced topics. An alternative to the conventional go-to-college method, The Theoretical Minimum provides a tool kit for amateur scientists to learn physics at their own pace.


The corrosion of steel reinforcement in an aging highway infrastructure is a major problem currently facing the transportation engineering community. In the United States alone, maintenance and replacement costs for deficient bridges are measured in billions of dollars. The application of corrosion-resistant steel reinforcement as an alternative reinforcement to existing mild steel reinforced concrete bridge decks has potential to mitigate corrosion problems, due to the fundamental properties associated with the materials. To investigate corrosion prevention through the use of corrosion-resistant alloys, the performance of corrosion resistance of MMFX microcomposite steel reinforcement, a high-strength, high-chromium steel reinforcement, was evaluated. The study consisted of both field and laboratory components conducted at the Iowa State University Bridge Engineering Center to determine whether MMFX reinforcement provides superior corrosion resistance to epoxy-coated mild steel reinforcement in bridge decks. Because definitive field evidence of the corrosion resistance of MMFX reinforcement may require several years of monitoring, strict attention was given to investigating reinforcement under accelerated conditions in the laboratory, based on typical American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and Rapid Macrocell accelerated corrosion tests. After 40 weeks of laboratory testing, the ASTM ACT corrosion potentials indicate that corrosion had not initiated for either MMF or the as-delivered epoxy-coated reinforcement. Conversely, uncoated mild steel specimens underwent corrosion within the fifth week, while epoxy-coated reinforcement specimens with induced holidays underwent corrosion between 15 and 30 weeks. Within the fifth week of testing, the Rapid Macrocell ACT produced corrosion risk potentials that indicate active corrosion for all reinforcement types tested. While the limited results from the 40 weeks of laboratory testing may not constitute a prediction of life expectancy and life-cycle cost, a procedure is presented herein to determine life expectancy and associated life-cycle costs.


The rapid growth of the Internet and the advancements of the Web technologies have made it possible for users to have access to large amounts of on-line music data, including music acoustic signals, lyrics, style/mood labels, and user-assigned tags. The progress has made music listening more fun, but has raised an issue of how to organize this data, and more generally, how computer programs can assist users in their music experience.
An important subject in computer-aided music listening is music retrieval, i.e., the issue of efficiently helping users in locating the music they are looking for. Traditionally, songs were organized in a hierarchical structure such as genre->artist->album->track, to facilitate the users' navigation. However, the intentions of the users are often hard to be captured in such a simply organized structure. The users may want to listen to music of a particular mood, style or topic; and/or any songs similar to some given music samples. This motivated us to work on user-centric music retrieval system to improve users' satisfaction with the system.
The traditional music information retrieval research was mainly concerned with classification, clustering, identification, and similarity search of acoustic data of music by way of feature extraction algorithms and machine learning techniques. More recently the music information retrieval research has focused on utilizing other types of data, such as lyrics, user-access patterns, and user-defined tags, and on targeting non-genre categories for classification, such as mood labels and styles. This dissertation focused on investigating and developing effective data mining techniques for (1) organizing and annotating music data with styles, moods and user-assigned tags; (2) performing effective analysis of music data with features from diverse information sources; and (3) recommending music songs to the users utilizing both content features and user access patterns.


Background: In the 1990s, Salmon developed a five-stage model for enabling and scaffolding remote groups to work and learn together using asynchronous bulletin boards. The model has informed online learning and development practice across different levels and education for online and blended learning. Purpose: This paper reports our testing of the usefulness and relevance of the model for Second Life (SL). Programme description and sample: Our case studies included students and tutors from three different disciplines: Archaeology, Digital Photography and Media and Communications. For the first case study, we collaborated with a postgraduate distance learning course in Archaeology at the University of Leicester. The second case study involved a campus-based undergraduate course in Digital Photography at the London South Bank University. The third case study was of a postgraduate campus-based course in Media and Communications. Design and methods: In each study, we developed artefacts and activities (SL-tivities) for students and tutors, to enable them to interact in groups. The SL-tivities were designed based on the five-stage model to provide scaffolding of learning in a group. Using qualitative methods, we studied students' and tutors' engagement with SL-tivities and their learning experiences at each stage of the model. We captured data through semi-structured interviews and from chat logs in SL, and mapped student dialogue against each stage of the model. We analysed the data using cognitive mapping, created causal understanding of the individuals and the groups and their changing views, feelings and experiences. Results and conclusions: The case studies gave us examples of learning opportunities in SL at each stage of the model. Our initial study showed that using a structured model for scaffolding learning in groups has value in a 3D multi-user virtual environment such as SL, as well as in text-based asynchronous environments. The model helps to inform design and delivery so that learners' and teachers' confidence in each other and in the environment builds up and that they work productively with each other. We continue to build further research using SL-tivities and the five-stage model to explore and develop further understanding of its applicability.


A number of architectures for a hollow Langevin ultrasonic transducer are proposed and evaluated. One of these is optimised by finite element modelling and is then manufactured and analysed experimentally. The preload on the transducer ceramics is increased and the effect on the performance is measured. At maximum preload the results of an experimental modal analysis are used to determine the natural frequency and response of both the operating longitudinal mode and unwanted bending modes. The performance of the hollow transducer is compared to a solid commercial transducer containing the same volume of piezoceramic material. The efficiency is shown to be comparable. Higher ultrasonic displacement amplitudes are achieved with the hollow transducer although a lower Q-factor is found.


This paper reports on a specific event which attempted to facilitate discussions with children and young people about diversity issues, including disability. The concept of social capital was operationalised and used as both a resource to stimulate discussions and as an explicit goal. The paper first reports on the processes involved and the topics identified for discussion by the children and young people and then considers their engagement with disability. Their insights on knowing disability, relationships, and provision and support illustrate a shift from an essentialising of impairment to an articulation of barriers which excluded disabled people and the lessons which teachers might take from these are discussed.


In this work we show that the rate-dependent hysteresis seen in current–voltage scans of CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite solar cells is related to a slow field-induced process that tends to cancel the electric field in the device at each applied bias voltage. It is attributed to the build-up of space charge close to the contacts, independent of illumination and most likely due to ionic displacement, which is enhanced when the device undergoes aging. This process can also lead to a reduction of the open-circuit voltage or the steady-state photocurrent and does not directly correlate with the development of the hysteresis if it is measured at a fixed voltage sweep rate.


Recently, the skeleton ofapparently a Cape Lion was discovered in the Zoological Museum of the University of Amsterdam. The history ofthe specimen as far as known is summarized and its attribution to Panthera leo melanochaita is elucidated with some measurements taken from the skeleton and the study of fur colours and manes' development on an oil painting of the same animal in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam. Both the animal and the painting once belonged to King Louis Napoleon Bonaparte of Holland. History and skeleton study The menagerie of the king was enlarged by buying some other collections. Just as the animals were properly installed at Haarlem, the rather fickle King Louis Napoleon ordered on 22 May 1809 the removal ofall the animals and plants to Amsterdam. There the animals were housed in the greenhouse of the town's botanical garden; the plants were put temporarily in the garden of a large house, the "Trippenhuis", which was the seat of what later wouldbecome the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences. In that same building was also housed the national art collection, which would become the state art museum, the Rijksmuseum, in Amsterdam. During winter 1809/1810 the animals went to empty barracks, so that the (sub)tropical plants could be placed in the greenhouse. On 10 June 1810, the king decided to dissolve the menagerie; on 2 July of the same year, under pressure of his brother emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, he abdicated and left the Netherlands. Finally on 30 September 1810 the remainder of King Louis Napoleon's menagerie was sent to Paris. The lions were already dead by then. During the time the menagerie was in Amsterdam, Gerardus Vrolik (1775-1859), professor of medicine and botany at the Athenaeum Illustre, was a memberof the board of the Hortus Botanicus, the town's botanical garden and at the same time he was co-director of the menagerie. He started a museum very early in life, consisting of prepared human parts and zoological objects. The lion, which is the subject of this paper, died between May and August 1809 and professor Vrolik obtained the body of the animal for his museum. The museum "MuFor quite some time there has been a mounted skeleton of a large lion (reg. nr ZMA 710) kept in the collections of the Zoological Museum in Amsterdam. Recently the skeleton came under scrutiny and the whole history of the object became known (Van Bree & Welman, 1996). When alive, the lion formed part of a travelling animal show under the management of AntoineAlpy that toured the Netherlands during the beginning of the 19th century. In July 1808 King Louis Napoleon, the Netherlands being at that time occupied by the French, ordered that the collection of animals of Alpy should be bought to form the nucleus of a menagerie he wanted to have, just like the one in Paris in the Jardin des Plantes (formerly named Jardin du Roi). The animals, among them two lionesses and the lion under discussion, were brought to Palace Soestdijk at Baarn and after a few months removed to an estate near the town of Haarlem. It was also intended to establish a Royal Botanical Garden there and for that purpose exotic plants were purchased (see Evers, 1941). P.J.H. van Bree On the extinct Cape Lion 68 seum Vrolikianum" was enlarged considerably by his son, professor Willem Vrolik and became known as the best private museum in Europe at the time (Dusseau, 1865). Willem Vrolik died in 1863 and it looked like the museum would have to be dissolved. However, funds were raised and in 1865 the collection was purchased from the heirs. All the medical objects were given to the town of Amsterdam for its Atheneum Illustre (the precursor of the University of Amsterdam) and the zoological part of the collection came into possession of the Zoological Society "Natura Artis Magistra", founded in 1838. This society administered a zoo, which still exists, a zoological museum, an ethnographical museum and a library. When in 1892 the Amsterdam University started its own zoological museum, its staffalso curated the society's collection until 1939. In that year the society's museum collections became officially part of the university's Zoological Museum (Smit, 1988). In 1808, the Dutch painter P.G. van Os (1776 1839) submitted a painting of the male lion from the menagerie of the king to the exposition of modern art in the Netherlands. That exposition was an initiative of King Louis Napoleon. After the exposition the artist donated the painting to the king. It was incorporated in the state art collec(Ch. H.Smith, 1842) in the collection ofthe Zoological Museum Amsterdam, Photograph by L.A. van der Laan. Fig. !. Mounted skeleton ofapparently the extinct Cape Lion, Panthera leo melanochaita Contributions to Zoology, 68 (1) 1998 69 tion, which after being housed at several places, is now in the Rijksmuseum (of art) in Amsterdam (see Fig. 2). Only recently we have become aware that the skeleton and the painting pertain to the same animal. After examination of the painting of the lion, Fig. 2. Painting ofthe male lion in the menagerie ofKing Louis Napoleon by P.G, van Os. Collection Rijksmuseum Amsterdam. P.J.H. van Bree On the extinct Cape Lion 70 with its long dark-coloured chest manes and its black belly manes, suspicion arose that the animal could be a Cape Lion. Therefore the skeleton and in particular the skull were studied in detail. Thanks to the studies of the late Czechoslovakian zoologist Vratislav Mazak in the years 19601970, we know much about Cape Lions. He studied almost all the extant specimens in museums and furnished a good description of this extinct subspecies, which lived in the vast plains of the South African interior that lie west of the Great Eastern Escarpment (Mazak, 1975). The subspecies was most probably exterminated around 1850. The skull of the Amsterdam mounted skeleton is difficult to study. It is attached to the spinal column by a dried tendon (see Fig. 1) and skull and vertebrae are connected by dried tissue. Also the lower jaw is attached to the skull by dried tissue. Therefore accurate length measurements cannot be taken, but nevertheless some other measurements could be ascertained. To wit: rostral breadth 107 mm, rostral depth 88 mm, greatest length of nasals 96 mm,prosthion-meatus acusticus externus 268 mm, interorbital breadth 73 mm, postorbital breadth 58 mm, bizygomatic breadth 244 mm, mastoid breadth 142 mm, greatest height of mandible 112 mm (for the definitions of these measurements see Mazak, 1975: 40). Although a number of important measurements are missing, those that could be taken point to a skull of a Cape Lion. In spite of the fact that the skeleton (see Fig. 1) is mounted in an unnatural way (it stands too high on its legs), it is clear that the animal was a large one. Measured with a tape, the distance from the anterior border of the nasals over the skull, over the tendon that connects the skull with the neural spines of the vertebrae till the last caudal vertebra, one arrives at a length of 256 cm. Taking into account the very dark coloured chest Fig. 3. How the Cape Lion probably looked in life. After Mazak, 1968. 71 Contributions to Zoology, 68 (1) 1998 and shoulder manes and the black belly manes, the size of the animal, and the dimensions of the skull, one comes to the conclusion that the specimen is most probably a Cape Lion, Panthera leo melanochaita. In addition circumstantial evidence should be taken into account. First, till the middle of the 19th century the only lions arriving in Europe either came from North Africa or from the Cape. Only after that time did lions also come from East Africa and India. In view of the painting it is clear that the lion under discussion is not a Barbary Lion, Panthera leo leo (Linnaeus, 1758). Secondly, the Cape was till 1795 a Dutch colony and in the 18th century living animals from South Africa regularly arrived in the Netherlands. For instance in the private Zoo of Stadtholder Prince William V many Cape animals could be seen. Some of them were described by the well-known zoologist Simon Peter Pallas when he visited the Plague between 1763 and 1767 (e.g., Wart Hog and Rock Dassie). As pointed out by Mazak & Husson (1960), the famous Dutch artist Rembrandt (1606-1669), who never left his country, made a drawing of a reposing lion, which looks like a Cape Lion. Thus taking everything into account, in spite of the fact that the early history of the lion before it came in the menagerie of King Louis Napoleon is unknown, it is highly probable that it was indeed a Cape Lion. The mounted skeleton is the second Cape Lion in the collection of the Amsterdam Zoological Museum. The first one, a mounted skin, has been described and pictured by Mazak in 1975.


Interactions involving carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) likely modulate terrestrial ecosystem responses to elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels at scales from the leaf to the globe and from the second to the century. In particular, response to elevated CO2 may generally be smaller at low relative to high soil N supply and, in turn, elevated CO2 may influence soil N processes that regulate N availability to plants. Such responses could constrain the capacity of terrestrial ecosystems to acquire and store C under rising elevated CO2 levels. This review highlights the theory and empirical evidence behind these potential interactions. We address effects on photosynthesis, primary production, biogeochemistry, trophic interactions, and interactions with other resources and environmental factors, focusing as much as possible on evidence from long-term field experiments.


Drawing independent samples from high-dimensional probability distributions represents the major computational bottleneck for modern algorithms, including powerful machine learning frameworks such as deep learning. The quest for discovering larger families of distributions for which sampling can be efficiently realized has inspired an exploration beyond established computing methods and turning to novel physical devices that leverage the principles of quantum computation. Quantum annealing embodies a promising computational paradigm that is intimately related to the complexity of energy landscapes in Gibbs distributions, which relate the probabilities of system states to the energies of these states. Here, we study the sampling properties of physical realizations of quantum annealers which are implemented through programmable lattices of superconducting flux qubits. Comprehensive statistical analysis of the data produced by these quantum machines shows that quantum annealers behave as samplers that generate independent configurations from low-temperature noisy Gibbs distributions. We show that the structure of the output distribution probes the intrinsic physical properties of the quantum device such as effective temperature of individual qubits and magnitude of local qubit noise, which result in a non-linear response function and spurious interactions that are absent in the hardware implementation. We anticipate that our methodology will find widespread use in characterization of future generations of quantum annealers and other emerging analog computing devices.


Mechanisms of platelet production and release by mammalian megakaryocytes are poorly understood. We used thrombocytopenic knockout mice to better understand these processes. Proplatelets are filamentous extensions of terminally differentiated megakaryocytes that are thought to represent one mechanism of platelet release; however, these structures have largely been recognized in cultured cells and there has been no correlation between thrombocytopoiesis in vivo and proplatelet formation. Mice lacking transcription factor NF-E2 have a late arrest in megakaryocyte maturation, resulting in profound thrombocytopenia. In contrast to normal megakaryocytes, which generate abundant proplatelets, cells from these mice never produce proplatelets, even after prolonged stimulation with c-Mpl ligand. Similarly, megakaryocytes from thrombocytopenic mice with lineage-selective loss of transcription factor GATA-1 produce proplatelets very rarely. These findings establish a significant correlation between thrombocytopoiesis and proplatelet formation and suggest that the latter represents a physiologic mechanism of platelet release. We further show that proplatelet formation by normal megakaryocytes and its absence in cells lacking NF-E2 are independent of interactions with adherent (stromal) cells. Similarly, thrombocytopenia in NF-E2(-/-) mice reflects intrinsic defects in the megakaryocyte lineage. These observations improve our understanding of platelet production and validate the study of proplatelets in probing the underlying mechanisms.