Swarna bhasma (gold bhasma) preparations are widely utilized as therapeutic agents. However, in vitro biological evaluations of bhasma preparations are needed along with the physicochemical characterization for present day standardization of metallic bhasma preparations to meet the criteria that supports its use. Therefore, an attempt has been made to evaluate the protein adsorption, blood compatibility and complement activation potential of two batches of Swarna bhasma preparation, along with its physicochemical characterization. The particle size, morphology, elemental analysis, and in vitro cytotoxicity were evaluated initially. Red blood cell hemolysis, aggregation studies with blood cells, protein adsorption, complement C3 adsorption, platelet activation and tight junction permeability in Caco-2 cell line were investigated. The Swarna bhasma preparations with a crystallite size of 28–35 nm did not induce any blood cell aggregation or protein adsorption. Activation potential of these preparations towards complement system or platelets was negligible. These particles were also non-cytotoxic. Swarna bhasma particles opened the tight junctions in Caco-2 cell experiments. The results suggest the application of Swarna bhasma preparations as a therapeutic agent in clinical medicine from the biological safety point of view.


Effective agricultural policymaking requires the accurate estimation of the production technology and efficiency of farms. However, several methodological issues should be considered when modelling production and estimating technical efficiency. In this paper, we focus on two of these—technological heterogeneity and theoretical consistency—as implied in microeconomic theory. Heterogeneity in the efficiency literature is often evaluated using a variable intercept model. However, in farm production, it is likely that heterogeneity also affects the marginal productivity of production factors. Some earlier papers investigated the effect of unobserved heterogeneity on technical efficiency using latent class models, but the application of random parameter models is limited. One of our main contributions in this paper is that we apply a modified version of a random parameter model to investigate the effect of unobserved heterogeneity on production factors and efficiency. The second aim was to impose regularity conditions into the model through introducing linear and non-linear constraints and thereby investigate their significance. Third, we examined the relationship between unobserved heterogeneity and the natural and economic conditions of farms. Our findings show that heterogeneity has a greater effect on variation in output than technical efficiency; furthermore, the violation of theoretical consistency significantly influences the results. These findings also reveal that the explanatory power of regional natural and economic conditions is significant but not sufficient on the variance of estimated unobserved heterogeneity.


Offshore wave conditions can be measured using wave buoys, which are generally designed for wind waves. Longer waves (swell or bound second-order waves) are very relevant for certain maritime structures. The accuracy of the instrumentation in a typical wave buoy in long and short waves was therefore studied, and it was investigated if the buoy can be applied in longer waves.
 A Waverider buoy was placed on a hexapod, which applied regular and irregular prescribed motions in multiple degrees of freedom. The hydrodynamic response of the buoy in waves and the effect of its mooring system were not evaluated; the buoy was assumed to follow the orbital motions of a wave and to rotate with its slope.
 The tests showed that the buoy sensors measure accelerations and rotations with periods between 1.5 and 35 s very well. Vertical displacements derived from the accelerations by the buoy are accurate for the period range of 2 to 20 s. In longer waves, the motions are significantly underestimated, even though the accelerations are accurately measured. This will not lead to large errors in normal operation, as the energy of such long waves is generally low. This explains why the buoy also performs well when it is subjected to irregular motions (less than 2% error in the significant wave height of a half-hour measurement in realistic irregular sea states with peak periods between 5 and 20 s can be expected).
 It can be concluded that the buoy accurately measures accelerations. The accuracy of the derived displacements decreases when very long swell wave energy (> 20 s) is present. Review of the internal integration procedure may be considered when there is a specific interest in measuring longer waves.


This essay is written in two parts. The first is a commentary on the affective politics of philosophy as a discipline. The theme here is philosophy's reverence problem, an affective bond to the teacher and the text, which is threatened or even injured by feminist philosophy. Feminist philosophy emerges as disruptive irreverence in the midst of the discipline, and injured reverence becomes a powerful prereflective motivation for resistance to feminist thought. The second part of the essay is an exploration of the field of inquiry called feminist phenomenology. Is feminist phenomenology simply phenomenology from another point of view, that of the embodied female subject? Is it conducted, in other words, in a space beyond politics and power where the difference of this subject discloses values and meanings that have not yet been thematized in phenomenological inquiry, but which phenomenology is already competent to pursue? Or does feminist phenomenology disrupt or transform phenomenological practice as we traditionally understand it? In this paper, I claim that phenomenology must be critical in order to be feminist, that it must disrupt phenomenological practice rather than simply "applying" it to a new object, "woman." In the work of Simone de Beauvoir we find a different phenomenological practice that feminists can count as a positive inheritance. The real difference of feminist phenomenology, however, only emerges in the practice itself. In order to capture something about this difference I take the phenomenon of shame as a case study, and compare three recent phenomenological accounts of shame.


This research focuses on the problem of students workload planning. According to some researchers, students poor performance can be a result of poor course design, as well as a result of poor workload planning. Thesis begins with introduction to the topic thorough review of solutions proposed by another researches for the workload planning. As a method to solve this issue, we have developed serious game, allowing player to test different strategies and learn from own practice what behavioral patterns lead to good performance, which to bed performance. Initial research was carried in general domain of workload planning. For conceptualization purposes we defined all data relative to student workload planning. Serious game that was created is System Dynamics based game. Key assumptions of game were: game runs through one study semester, with known rate of new assignments published. In the beginning of each week student has to make a plan, how many hours he will work in a week. Decision is based on time til the end of semester, assignment backlog and other factors. Goal of the game is to complete all tasks within deadline and at descent grade. As a first step of development, a Casual loop diagram, summarizing problem entities and their relations was presented. Then thesis presents process of developing level and rate diagram, where authors accounted factors like subjective perception, decrease in energy and influence of dissatisfaction with grades.The model was validated using System Dynamics methods and through data collection. To provide better utility, Online simulation was developed. Simulation is hosted on Forio server and can be accessed via direct URL. In order to ensure learning effect, players can simulate pre-defined strategies and compare outcomes. In final part I present insights derived from exploration of model structure and behaviour. Those insights contain either patterns of behavior preventing positive result or patterns of behaviour promoting positive result. Hence students can learn, what behavioural patterns they should follow to achieve good result. In case they already selected strategy with expected poor performancewhich behavioral patterns they should avoid, to improve their workload skills.


Hydrothermal reaction of either cobalt or cadmium nitrate, D-camphoric acid (H2cam), and conformationally flexible dipyridylamide ligands produced five coordination networks which were structurally characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. {[Co2(DL-cam)2(bdn)]·2H2O}n (1, bdn = N,N′-(butane-1,4-diyl)dinicotinamide) possesses {Co2(OCO)4} paddlewheel dimer-based [Co2(DL-cam)2] grid layers pillared by bdn ligands into a 6-connected 41263pcu network. In contrast, the cadmium analog {[Cd2(D-cam)2(bdn)2]·5H2O}n (2) shows {Cd2(OCO)2} dimer-based [Cd2(D-cam)2] layers tethered by bdn ligands into an 8-connected 42464bcu network. {[Co2(D-cam)2(pdn)]·2H2O}n (3, pdn = N,N′-(propane-1,3-diyl)dinicotinamide) manifests a self-penetrated 446810 mab network in contrast to 1, and retains chirality. {[Cd2(D-cam)2(pdn)]·H2O}n (4) manifests {Cd2(OCO)4} paddlewheel dimer-based [Cd2(D-cam)2] grids, connected by exotridentate pbn ligands into a unique 3,7-connected 3D network with (3·52)(324456687) topology derived from a rare non-self-penetrated 4966acs topology sublattice. {[Co2(DL-cam)2(pedn)]·2H2O}n (5, pedn = N,N′-(pentane-1,5-diyl)dinicotinamide) shows a hybrid structure of discrete slabs of 3D pcu network with interleaved 2D hxl (3,6) layers at random intervals, instead of the self-penetrated mab network seen in 3. The specific coordination environments and dipyridylamide lengths result in control of topology and self-penetration in this series of coordination networks. The cadmium complexes 2 and 4 were assayed for luminescent and nitrobenzene detection properties. Thermal properties of 1–5 are also discussed.


Abstract We study the impact of misreported treatment status on the estimation of causal treatment effects, focusing on applications where no additional information or repeated measurements are available. We first characterize the bias introduced by misclassification on the average treatment effect on the treated (ATT) under a conditional independence assumption, in both a binary and a multiple-treatment setting. We find that the bias of matching-type estimators computed from misclassified data cannot in general be signed. We subsequently provide easily implementable methods to bound the ATT of interest semiparametrically, in particular allowing for very general forms of impact heterogeneity and of the no-treatment outcome equations, as well as for some dependence of the misreporting probabilities on individual characteristics. The empirical problem that motivates our paper is the estimation of the wage returns to a number of educational qualifications in the United Kingdom, allowing for misreporting in attainment. We investigate the sensitivity of the raw estimates to the presence of misclassification and explore the identification power of plausible restrictions on the nature and extent of misclassification. We show that the resulting bounds are sometimes wide but generally point to reasonable ranges of positive values for average returns to schooling among the schooled. For the range of educational qualifications considered, we further show that the claim sometimes made that measurement error bias roughly cancels out selection bias is not supported. More generally, our results show that under relatively mild restrictions, we can obtain strong conclusions regarding our questions of interest.


Living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a complex and difficult experience that necessitates numerous lifestyle changes for the patient and caregiver. Although ALS was previously regarded as a disease that primarily affects the motor system and spares non-motor functions, it is now recognized that a sizable proportion of the ALS population demonstrates frontotemporal impairment (ALS+FTI), with a subset of the population meeting criteria for frontotemporal dementia. Clinically, ALS and FTI differ in many respects; however, both diseases are progressive and necessitate dependence on caregivers for assistance with activities of daily living and beyond. Although the relationship between ALS and FTI has received empirical attention, the experience of the caregiver remains largely unexplored. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore and describe caregivers' thoughts, feelings, behaviors, practical daily challenges, and rewards in caring for persons with ALS+FTI. Four female spousal caregivers participated in semi-structured interviews; they also completed self-report measures to assess quality of life, level of care, and FTI symptoms exhibited by the care recipients. Findings indicated that although each caregiver faced her own set of unique challenges, there were commonalities across narratives. Three major themes were identified: witnessing the effects of ALS+FTI, the impact of the caregiving experience, and coping with life as a caregiver. Findings were interpreted within the context of the existing caregiving literature and suggestions for improving FTI assessment within the ALS population were provided.


Research on the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning is enter- ing a new phase. The main driver behind this is an awareness that biodiversity loss operates at large spatial scales and generally involves reductions and changes in species at different trophic levels simultaneously. Evaluating how ecosystem processes are likely to change following species loss at multiple trophic levels will be difficult because of the feedbacks between levels and between levels and the ecosystem processes of interest. Similarly, carrying out manipulative experiments designed to accommodate multiple trophic levels at the landscape scales in which society is interested will be extremely challenging. Novel approaches, such as the BioMERGE (Biotic Mechanisms of Ecosystem Regulation in the Global Environment) initiative, are needed. In addition, future work should be more services-oriented, rather than process-oriented, if effects of biodiversity change on services are to be properly assessed. Finally, the application of mainstream ecosystem ecology to biodiver- sity-ecosystem functioning research seems to have been neglected to date. In this respect, there is potential for the mass-balance approach to contribute to the debate.


In an effort to modernise police organisations and professionalise policing, it is becoming increasingly common for police today to obtain formal university qualifications. Within the Australian context, the National Police Professionalism Implementation Advisory Committee (NPPIAC) recommended in 1990 that police pursue full professional status reflecting national education standards underpinned by university qualifications. This paper explores, from a national perspective, key stakeholders' perceptions about police university education and professionalism. Forty in-depth interviews were carried out with police managers and academics occupying pivotal positions in police education from across Australia. Both police managers and academics had generally favourable views towards university education for police and working together in the delivery of policing course s . H o w e v e r , i n c o n t r a s t t o t h e N P P I A C recommendations, perspectives about the professional status of police and the actual role of university education in police organisations, differed. In addition, there were a variety of views about imposing mandatory requirements on police to complete university courses. This paper is part of a larger study into university education for police managers and presents the preliminary findings of one phase of the study.


In current patient-centered clinical practice, obtaining a valid informed consent is legally mandatory and ethically vital. Although many may consider this a notion of modern medicine, the concept of informed consent has been mentioned as early as in the Hippocrates' era. The doctrine of informed consent has a robust theoretical foundation; however, implementing these standards in day-to-day clinical practice is sometimes challenging and may not always be possible. Obtaining surgical informed consent in the pediatric patient faces a unique set of challenges as the consent is sought not from the patient but from surrogates who are presumed to be acting in the best interest of the child. The evolution of the informed consent concept has greatly influenced present day informed consent practice. Revisiting the relevant intricacies of the historical and philosophical aspects of the origin and evolution of this doctrine with a focus on surgical informed consent in children may help us better understand how to successfully navigate the challenges of obtaining informed consent in this vulnerable population.


Crossmodal correspondences (CMC) systematically associate perceptual dimensions in different sensory modalities (e.g., auditory pitch and visual brightness), and affect perception, cognition, and action. While previous work typically investigated associations between basic perceptual dimensions, here we present a new type of CMC, involving a high-level, quasi-syntactic schema: music tonality. Tonality governs most Western music and regulates stability and tension in melodic and harmonic progressions. Musicians have long associated tonal stability with non-auditory domains, yet such correspondences have hardly been investigated empirically. Here, we investigated CMC between tonal stability and visual brightness, in musicians and in non-musicians, using explicit and implicit measures. On the explicit test, participants heard a tonality-establishing context followed by a probe tone, and matched each probe to one of several circles, varying in brightness. On the implicit test, we applied the Implicit Association Test to auditory (tonally stable or unstable sequences) and visual (bright or dark circles) stimuli. The findings indicate that tonal stability is associated with visual brightness both explicitly and implicitly. They further suggest that this correspondence depends only partially on conceptual musical knowledge, as it also operates through fast, unintentional, and arguably automatic processes in musicians and non-musicians alike. By showing that abstract musical structure can establish concrete connotations to a non-auditory perceptual domain, our results open a hitherto unexplored avenue for research, associating syntactical structure with connotative meaning.


We study how aggregate economic conditions affect the timing of marriage, and particularly child marriage, in Sub‐Saharan Africa and in India. In both regions, substantial monetary or in‐kind transfers occur with marriage: bride price across Sub‐Saharan Africa and dowry in India. In a simple equilibrium model of the marriage market in which parents choose when their children marry, income shocks affect the age of marriage because marriage payments are a source of consumption smoothing, particularly for a woman's family. As predicted by our model, we show that droughts, which reduce annual crop yields by 10 to 15% and aggregate income by 4 to 5%, have opposite effects on the marriage behavior of a sample of 400,000 women in the two regions: in Sub‐Saharan Africa they increase the annual hazard into child marriage by 3%, while in India droughts reduce such a hazard by 4%. Changes in the age of marriage due to droughts are associated with changes in fertility, especially in Sub‐Saharan Africa, and with declines in observed marriage payments. Our results indicate that the age of marriage responds to short‐term changes in aggregate economic conditions and that marriage payments determine the sign of this response. This suggests that, in order to design successful policies to combat child marriage and improve investments in daughters' human capital, it is crucial to understand the economic role of marriage market institutions.


Background: Zanthoxylum alatum (ZA) is used ethnomedicinally for the treatment of various diseases. It is used as a nerve tonic in weak patients and in vertigo. Objective: The beneficial effect of hydroethanolic extract of ZA seeds (HEZA) on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced depression-like behavior in mice was studied with its possible underlying mechanisms. Materials and Methods: HEZA (100 and 200 mg/kg, p.o.) and imipramine (10 mg/kg, i.p) were administered for 14 consecutive days, followed by LPS (0.83 mg/kg i.p) injection, 30 min posttreatment. Behavioral studies including the open field test, forced swimming test, tail suspension test and sucrose preference test were performed after 24 h of LPS administration. Levels of pro-oxidant markers (Lipid peroxidation (LPO), Nitric oxide (NO) and antioxidant enzyme viz. Glutathione (GSH), Superoxide dismutase (SOD), Catalase (CAT), Glutathione peroxidase (GPx) were estimated biochemically; Norepinephrine (NE), Dopamine (DA) and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) levels by high-performance liquid chromatography; nuclear factor- κB (NFκB), nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Nrf2) and caspase-3 mRNA expression using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction; the proteins of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and tropomyosin receptor kinase B (TrkB), in hippocampal tissue were evaluated by Western blot. Hesperidin, magnoflorine, melicopine, and sesamin were few phytoconstituents identified by liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization–tandem mass spectrometry studies. Results: Administration of LPS produced significant depression-like behavior by reducing the locomotor activity in open field test, increasing the immobility time in forced swim test and tail suspension test, increased LPO, NO, decreased GSH, SOD, CAT, GPx levels; lowered NE, DA and 5-HT level, upregulated NFκB, Nrf2 and Caspase-3 mRNA expression and downregulated BDNF, TrKB protein expression. Pretreatment with imipramine and HEZA reversed LPS-induced behavioral patterns, inhibited oxido-nitrosative stress, elevated antioxidant enzyme levels, and normalized the NE, DA, and 5-HT levels. The treatment also suppressed the mRNA expression of NFκB, Nrf2, and Caspase-3 gene with upregulation of BDNF protein expression, the molecular marker for depression. Conclusion: Antidepressant-like activity of HEZA is assumed to be mediated by antioxidant property, impending neuroinflammation, alteration of monoaminergic responses, and preventing BDNF depletion. Abbreviations used: HEZA: Hydroethanolic extract of Zanthoxylum alatum seeds; LPS: Lipopolysaccharide; OFT: Open field test; FST: Forced swim test; TST: Tail suspension test; SPT: Sucrose preference test; LPO: Lipid peroxidation; NO: Nitric oxide; GSH: Glutathione; SOD: Superoxide dismutase; CAT: Catalase; GPx: Glutathione peroxidase; HPLC: High-performance liquid chromatography; NFκB: Nuclear factor-κB; Nrf2: Nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2; RT-PCR: Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction; BDNF: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor; TrkB: Tropomyosin receptor kinase B; 5-HT: 5-hydroxytryptamine; NE: Norepinephrine; DA: Dopamine; PCA: Perchloric acid; LC-ESI-MS/MS: Liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization–tandem mass spectrometry; ZA: Zanthoxylum alatum.


Hyperthyroidism was diagnosed in 24 aged cats and was characterized by palpable enlargement of the thyroid gland, high circulating levels of thyroid hormones, increased thyroidal uptake of 123I, and abnormal uptake and distribution of activity on thyroid scintiscans. Unilateral or bilateral thyroidectomy was performed in all cats and resulted in remission of signs in all but one case. The histological diagnosis was adenomatous hyperplasia in 23 cats and adenocarcinoma in one. Serum thyroid hormone concentrations decreased to normal or subnormal levels within 24 hours after complete removal of functioning thyroid nodules. Hypothyroidism occurred postoperatively in 16 of the 24 cats. Presumed hypoparathyroidism and hypocalcaemia occurred in 6 cases.


The increasingly widespread utilization enables plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) to provide ancillary service and support economic and secure operation of power systems. This paper proposes a novel model to optimize day-ahead spinning reserve requirement (SRR) considering PEVs' contribution in providing operating reserve. Based on the probabilistic criteria, the cost of expected energy supplied by PEV (EESEV) is formulated. The costs of reserves from thermal generators and PEVs as well as expected energy not supplied (EENS) are considered together to determine optimal SRR. The post-contingency PEV reaction time is taken into account in the formation of EENS and EESEV. The capacities of PEV interruptible charging demand and vehicle to grid service are calculated, respectively, under the conditions of both immediate charging and smart charging strategies. The effects of PEVs on system SRR quantification, unit commitment are comprehensively analyzed using IEEE reliability test system. Numerical results systematically demonstrate the effectiveness of PEVs' participation on the reduction of operation costs and the improvement of power system reliability. Sensitivity analysis of PEV penetration level and compensation cost to PEV owners is compressively conducted to provide meaningful reference for future implementation.


Background: The risk factors of obesity changes around the world. Adolescence is identified as a critical period for the development of obesity related metabolic derangements. This study evaluated the predisposing factors of obesity among adolescent students in kancheepuram district, South India.
Methods: This case control study was conducted in Kancheepuram district between July 2017 to September 2017. A total of 1656 adolescent boys and girls between the age group of 12 to 15 years were randomly selected from 12 schools (4 public schools, 4 matriculation schools and 4 government schools). The cases were obese adolescents and the controls were non obese adolescents. Univariate and Multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted, and odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated.
Results: Various lifestyle factors including behavioral, dietary and family factors were identified as predisposing factors also for obesity.
Conclusion: There is an urgent need to educate adolescents on the aspects of healthy food habits and desired lifestyles to prevent overweight/obesity and its associated ill effects.


Useful adjuncts to a more general population chlamydia screening programme

Where should chlamydia screening be done? Who should be screened? How do we engage young men and vulnerable groups? How do we increase the uptake? Can the internet help? As a timely response to a recent call for innovative ways to encourage chlamydia screening in young people,1 we publish two papers (pp 142 and 148) and a commentary (p 152) tackling some of these issues.

Gotz et al 's pilot study in Rotterdam examined ways of encouraging chlamydia screening among African Caribbeans from Surinam and the Antilles (see p 148). In a previous population based study this group was at higher risk of infection than white Dutch people,2 but less likely to respond to a postal invitation to provide home collected specimens for chlamydia testing.3 In this study, urine collection kits were offered by street outreach workers, or public health nurses providing sex education in vocational training schools. Participants could provide a specimen on site, or take a kit home with them. In the school and group settings uptake among the minority ethnic group was higher than in the postal intervention.3 The positivity rate in female vocational training school students was extremely high (27.9%, 95% CI 16.7% to 42.6%).

In contrast with targeting specific groups and settings, Novak and Karlsson set up an internet website to promote chlamydia testing to the whole adult population in one Swedish county (see p 142). Visitors to the site could request …


The conclusions of randomized controlled trials may be biased when the outcome of one unit depends on the treatment status of other units, a problem known as interference. In this work, we study interference in the setting of one-sided bipartite experiments in which the experimental units—where treatments are randomized and outcomes are measured—do not interact directly. Instead, their interactions are mediated through their connections to interference units on the other side of the graph. Examples of this type of interference are common in marketplaces and twosided platforms. The cluster-randomized design is a popular method to mitigate interference when the graph is known, but it has not been well-studied in the one-sided bipartite experiment setting. In this work, we formalize a natural model for interference in one-sided bipartite experiments using the exposure mapping framework. We first exhibit settings under which existing cluster-randomized designs fail to properly mitigate interference under this model. We then show that minimizing the bias of the difference-in-means estimator under our model results in a balanced partitioning clustering objective with a natural interpretation. We further prove that our design is minimax optimal over the class of linear potential outcomes models with bounded interference. We conclude by providing theoretical and experimental evidence of the robustness of our design to a variety of interference graphs and potential outcomes models.


Executive Summary The UK faces no easy options in determining how to develop its approach to international trade post-Brexit. If it finally decides to leave the European Customs Union and Single Market, it faces the possibility either of simply crashing out of the EU without a deal; trying to form market-access agreements and Free Trade Areas (FTAs) with the EU and other countries; or unilaterally reducing tariffs and liberalising trade with all countries. Each course raises significant practical difficulties, and entails major disadvantages compared with staying in the Customs Union and Single Market. The economic costs of a 'no-deal' approach stand to be very large, including inevitable tariffs, obstruction of UK access to EU markets, physical disruption at borders, a damping of investment and the much-discussed problem of the Irish border. Assuming 'no-deal' does not happen, negotiating FTAs with other countries would be possible only after a lengthy transition period, as in the Withdrawal Agreement voted down in Parliament, and would depend on the shape of the ultimate post-Brexit trading relationship between the EU and the UK. The process would be difficult, costly, and protracted; would likely be concluded on disadvantageous terms; would be even harder to apply to trade in services; and would yield extremely small gains given the volume of UK non-EU trade that is already covered by FTAs. Finally, unilateral liberalisation, while ameliorating some of the drawbacks of the first two options, faces the same problems of loss of access to European markets and disruption to trade; and would entail severe economic pain with only very gradual gains. The UK needs to conduct a much more profound and considered debate on these issues before deciding to set aside the large benefits of membership of the Customs Union and Single Market for the significant difficulties and tenuous gains offered by the alternatives. Public debate on the economic effects of trade policy has so far lacked the detailed but necessary analysis of these questions. It seems essential to establish a national policy review institution, modelled on the Australian Productivity Commission, in order to stimulate such a debate.


Objectives: (1) To provide a constructive critique of the interface between the entrepreneurial growth dynamics research and social responsibility literatures; (2) to explore opportunities for making new connections between these literatures in order to address substantive 'gaps' in research and policymaking ; (3) to map the broader intellectual territory implied by this critique; (4) to outline a tentative research agenda. Prior work: The paper draws on two main strands of research: entrepreneurial growth dynamics and (corporate) social responsibility. While much has been achieved in the social responsibility literature with regards to established practices, we argue that insufficient attention has been paid to the more 'entrepreneurial' dimensions. At the same time, the current wave of enthusiasm for new models of socially-responsible enterprise has opened up a series of new research questions, including: (i) how are these organisational forms likely to grow and develop over the longer-term, at an intra-organisational level, and in terms of emerging inter-organisational relationships?; (iii) how will other actors respond to these developments?; (ii) what are the implications of the resulting dynamics for social, environmental and economic sustainability? Approach: The paper is based around a critical review of the relevant literatures, focusing on the role of entrepreneurial opportunity and capabilities in shaping entrepreneurial growth dynamics. The discussion addresses current methodological debates and considers how social responsibility can be integrated into the analysis. In doing so, it builds on a research tradition that has promoted historicallyinformed multi-level and co-evolutionary analysis and argues that such techniques are required in order to gain a better understanding of these phenomena. Results: We outline a research agenda, illustrated with a number of questions of particular relevance to researchers, policy-makers and practitioners Implications: The paper identifies a number of issues for researchers and policy-makers and practitioner audiences. It calls for a broadening of the intellectual territory around socially-responsible enterprise. Process-based and multi-level analysis of growth dynamics extends its temporal and organisational boundaries to encompass longer-term interactions and a wider range of actors. Value: The paper is designed to facilitate and to encourage more constructive interaction between research communities concerned with: social responsibility, social enterprise and process-based approaches to entrepreneurship. It advances understanding by mapping an intellectual space that is neither fully revealed in, nor adequately addressed by, existing bodies of knowledge.


This article reviews the history, the present status and possible future developments of HgCdTe ternary alloy for infrared (IR) detector applications. HgCdTe IR detectors have been intensively developed since the first synthesis of this material in 1958. This article summarizes the fundamental properties of this versatile narrow gap semiconductor, and relates the material properties to its successful applications as an IR photoconductive and photovoltaic detector material. An emphasis is put on key developments in the crystal growth and their influence on device evolution. Competitive technologies to HgCdTe ternary alloy are also presented. Recent advances of backside illuminated HgCdTe heterojunction photodiodes have enabled a third generation of multispectral instruments for remote sensing applications and have led to the practicality of multiband IR focal plane array technology. Finally, evaluation of HgCdTe for room temperature long wavelength IR applications is presented.


Risk aggregation and capital allocation are of paramount importance in business, as they play critical roles in pricing, risk management, project financing, performance management, regulatory supervision, etc. The state-of-the-art practice often includes two steps: (i) determine standalone capital requirements for individual business lines and aggregate them at a corporate level; and (ii) allocate the total capital back to individual lines of business or at more granular levels. There are three pitfalls with such a practice, namely, lack of consistency, negligence of cost of capital, and disentanglement of allocated capitals from standalone capitals. In this paper, we introduce a holistic approach that aims to strike a balance of optimality by taking into account competing interests of various stakeholders and conflicting priorities in a corporate hierarchy. While unconventional in its objective, the new approach results in an allocation of diversification benefit, which conforms to the diversification strategy of many risk management frameworks including regulatory capital and economic capital. The holistic capital setting and allocation principle provides a remedy to aforementioned problems with the existing two-step industry practice.


The research is an evaluation into the damage caused to road structural pavements by service providers in Uganda. Majority of utility service provider's infrastructure lies underground often partly or wholly beneath road pavements. Kampala road structural pavements are getting dilapidated by the activities of utility service providers and cuts not repaired in time, and those repaired fail prematurely despite provision of specifications to contractors. The study aimed at assessing road surface damage (cracks, depressions, potholes and bleeding) caused by utility cutting and their progressions overtime. Evaluating the practices of contractors when selecting materials for repair of utility cuts and compacting pavement layers, establishing the resultant effects of repaired cut distresses and recommend best practices to reduce repaired cut distresses on road pavements. Methodology comprised of literature review, questionnaire survey to technical staff of utility companies (telecommunication, electricity, water & sewerage), contactors and road authorities. Forms of distresses on repaired utility cuts were visually identified, monitored, measured and recorded on observation sheets. Their variations over 3month period were monitored. Field tests (Dynamic Cone Penetrometer DCP) was used for establishing soil structural strength and properties on repaired utility cuts and a sand replacement method for moisture content test. For laboratory tests, soil samples were subjected to BS Heavy Compaction Test to establish the degree of compaction. The resultant effects like road service life, distresses on five traffic junctions were identified and observed. With respect to traffic jams, vehicles were timed, recorded at a pothole(s), and results presented on graphs. The study showed road surface damage (distresses) in form of cracks, bleeding, depressions and potholes and their progression overtime. Contractors flout set standards during selection of materials and compacting pavement layers during repair of utility cuts. The effects of utility cut distresses were reduction in road service life and serviceability, increased maintenance costs and unnecessary traffic jams. The recommendations were involvement of utility service companies at all stages of road construction projects, best remedial measures as trenchless technology, core boring and design based on sound engineering fundamentals. Area of further research, evaluation of impact of road drainage on the utility workability was proposed.


Understanding the reservoir connectivity advances engineering and management decisions and enhances overall field performance. A method to investigate injector to producer connectivity from an identified proportion of the injected brine in the produced water is proposed.
 Chloride, sodium, boron and lithium are ideal tracers: typically they do not participate in geochemical reactions. These ions track injection water without retardation, and if their concentration differences with formation brine are high enough to overcome measurement errors, then they may be used as indicators of the mixing ratio between injection and formation brines. This paper proposes the use of this mixing ratio to distinguish brines and to calculate the normalised contribution of injected water in the cumulative produced water volume. A producer to injector connectivity plot allows engineers to categorise the pressure support for production wells in one plot.
 This approach was applied to North Sea field data. A mineral scaling risk analysis was performed using the Injector Contribution characteristic plot. Wells being supported by commingled injected seawater and aquifer water were most at risk of BaSO4 precipitation. Historic data for a field case were analysed to examine potential scaling regimes. A set of well candidates for enhanced oil recovery to reduce residual oil in the oil leg was also identified. Most of the water produced in these wells came from injectors, rather than from the aquifer. Those wells have good communication throughout the oil leg and as a result quick water breakthrough occurs. As well as resulting in an early onset of BaSO4 scaling, an Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) chemical that is injected would more quickly reach the producers and therefore the potential for chemical EOR applications can be measured. This suggested metric helps to identify that other wells do not experience much seawater production, but are more strongly supported by the aquifer, and so there would be no apparent benefit in reducing residual oil by injecting chemical. This set of wells might benefit potentially from infill drilling nearby, or conformance control methods.
 The proposed technique does not require additional sampling to be performed over and above the measured historical produced water compositions that are routinely collected by operators during offshore production for scale management purposes. The analysis to select well candidates for EOR or areas for infill drilling is significantly more challenging using a conventional approach, and we propose that this novel metric of "Producer to Injector connectivity" will be beneficial for the decision making process.


Abstract. Fluorescence Assay by Gas Expansion (FAGE) has been used to detect ambient levels of OH and HO2 radicals at the Cape Verde Atmospheric Observatory, located in the tropical Atlantic marine boundary layer, during May and June 2007. Midday radical concentrations were high, with maximum concentrations of 9 ×106 molecule cm−3 and 6×108 molecule cm−3 observed for OH and HO2, respectively. A box model incorporating the detailed Master Chemical Mechanism, extended to include halogen chemistry, heterogeneous loss processes and constrained by all available measurements including halogen and nitrogen oxides, has been used to assess the chemical and physical parameters controlling the radical chemistry. The model was able to reproduce the daytime radical concentrations to within the 1 σ measurement uncertainty of 20% during the latter half of the measurement period but significantly under-predicted [HO2] by 39% during the first half of the project. Sensitivity analyses demonstrate that elevated [HCHO] (~2 ppbv) on specific days during the early part of the project, which were much greater than the mean [HCHO] (328 pptv) used to constrain the model, could account for a large portion of the discrepancy between modelled and measured [HO2] at this time. IO and BrO, although present only at a few pptv, constituted ~19% of the instantaneous sinks for HO2, whilst aerosol uptake and surface deposition to the ocean accounted for a further 23% of the HO2 loss at noon. Photolysis of HOI and HOBr accounted for ~13% of the instantaneous OH formation. Taking into account that halogen oxides increase the oxidation of NOx (NO → NO2), and in turn reduce the rate of formation of OH from the reaction of HO2 with NO, OH concentrations were estimated to be 9% higher overall due to the presence of halogens. The increase in modelled OH from halogen chemistry gives an estimated 9% shorter lifetime for methane in this region, and the inclusion of halogen chemistry is necessary to model the observed daily cycle of O3 destruction that is observed at the surface. Due to surface losses, we hypothesise that HO2 concentrations increase with height and therefore contribute a larger fraction of the O3 destruction than at the surface.


Conservation agriculture (CA) is becoming popular in sub-Saharan Africa as potential solution to soil degradation. However, most findings are based on large scale, mechanized agricultural production systems which are not easy to apply within the smallholder farmer's context. This study assessed the implications of tillage practices, management of soil surface and fertilizer application on sustainable dryland agriculture of Eastern Rwanda. The experimental design was Split Plot with 4 replications. The main plots were conventional tillage (CT) and no tillage (NT) and sub-plots were: Control, sole residues application (RR); residues application with inorganic fertilizers (RR+IF) and inorganic fertilizers (IF) applied alone. Inorganic fertilizers application increased bean grain and biomass yield by 103%. In no tillage inorganic fertilizers had higher maize grain and biomass yields whereas residues application had 68% higher maize grain and biomass yield in conventional tillage. The significant increase in organic carbon was observed in residues applied with inorganic fertilizers. There was a significant N decrease in all treatments however control and residues had the highest N pool compared to other treatments. Sole residues application and residues applied with inorganic fertilizers treatment increased significantly Available P. The use of inorganic fertilizers in conservation agriculture systems should be promoted as the engine toward successful of CA practices for Bugesera district conditions. These results provide a basis for conducting trade-off analyses to support the development of CA crop management and international development strategies based on available scientific evidence.

 Key words: Conservation agriculture, no tillage, residues management, Bugesera District.


For the coming century, the control of water resources will be certainly the key of all the stakes for billions of human beings. Unfortunately a reduction in the number of stations is observed with a decline of measurements quality. Remote sensing, which saw the development of numerous satellite radar altimeters and more recently the launch of the satellite lidar ICESat, could be an interesting alternative for the study of the hydrological networks. The objective of this study is to estimate the potential of ICESat for monitoring continental water missions through the cases of the Lake Geneva (Switzerland and France) and rivers of Metropolitan France. Our first axis of study concerned the satellite-based assessment of ICESat on the Lake Geneva by comparing laser data to hydrological gauge water levels. Two hydrological stations (Chillon and Saint Prex) were used to evaluate the accuracy of ICESat elevations. First it was necessary that all data was in the same datum to conduct a consistent comparison. ICESat elevations, which are referenced in the Topex ellipsoid, were converted into orthometric elevations by a translation between Topex ellipsoid and WGS84 and then into the vertical reference IGN69 (RGF93) with the grid RAF98. The shots of water alone were then extracted track by track and the mean elevation calculated for each track was used for the comparison with reference elevations (hydrological gauges). The error RMS is 33 cm (-0.20 cm ± 0.21 cm) without any saturation correction. When the saturation correction is supplied and different from -999.000, the quality of water elevation data is improved : the error RMS is 14 cm (0.01 cm ± 0.10 cm). However GLAS temporal profiles show a slow progressive adaptation of GLAS sensor before proposing correct elevations. On the passage of ICESat from the land to water, the first spots elevations are higher than reference elevation and the following spots from 30 cm to 50 cm. The progressive return to the normal can last 0.2 s. It corresponds to 8 measurements and an adaptation distance of 1.360 km. When the transition footprints are excluded, the accuracy for the ICESat elevation measurements is 5 cm. Besides hydrological objects with a small size (small lakes, small rivers), which can not apply a margin of 1.5 km to remove transition footprints, could not be monitoring using ICESat with a good accuracy. Next the accuracy of ICESat was investigated on French rivers with a width larger than the size of ICESat footprint (about 55 m for the laser 3). The error RMS is 1.15 m (0.03 m ± 1.17 m) due to the time of ICESat adaptation on the passage from land to water. ICESat is not adapted for the monitoring of the continental water resource.


Current interest in promoting physical activity in the school environment necessitates an inexpensive, accurate method of measuring physical activity in such settings. Additionally, it is recognized that physical activity must be of at least moderate intensity in order to yield substantial health benefits. The purpose of the study, therefore, was to determine the validity of the New Lifestyles NL-1000 (New Lifestyles, Inc., Lee's Summit, Missouri, USA) accelerometer for measuring moderate-to-vigorous physical activity in school settings, using the Actigraph GT1M (ActiGraph, Pensacola, Florida, USA) as the criterion. Data were collected during a cross-country run (n = 12), physical education (n = 18), and classroom-based physical activities (n = 42). Significant and meaningful intraclass correlations between methods were found, and NL-1000 estimates of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity were not meaningfully different from GT1M-estimated moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. The NL-1000 therefore shows promising validity evidence as an inexpensive, convenient method of measuring moderate-to-vigorous physical activity in school settings.


Background: Hearing loss in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD) is sensorineural and bilateral and occurs at high or low frequencies. Hearing loss in HD is caused by osmotic disorders, changes in fluid and electrolytes in the cochlea's endolymph, and possible exposure to membrane dialyzer. Objective: The objective of this study is to explain the characteristics of hearing loss in patients with CKD undergoing HD. Methods: This was a descriptive research using the secondary data from 20 ears in 10 CKD patients undergoing HD at the Airlangga University Hospital in September–October 2018. Results: Sensorineural hearing loss in 13 of 20 ears (65%) and bilateral in 6 pairs of ears (85.7%). The highest degree of hearing loss was mild in 11 of 20 ears (55%). The average hearing threshold is 32.1 dB. The average hearing threshold for each frequency is dome shaped. The highest average hearing threshold at a frequency of 8000 Hz is 44 dB. The refer results of DPOAE in 17 of the 20 ears (85%) refer result in four patients without hearing loss. The most refer results of DPOAE are obtained at a frequency of 4000 Hz. Conclusion: The most characteristic hearing loss is sensorineural, bilateral, and mild hearing threshold. The average hearing threshold graph forms a dome-shaped image that illustrates the hearing loss that can occur at high and low frequencies.


A phase 2 protocol was developed to attempt to induce donor-specific tolerance to renal allografts in related and unrelated donor/recipient combinations (IND 13947 phase 2). Subjects were conditioned with fludarabine (days -5, -4, -3), cyclophosphamide (50 mg/ky days -3 and +3), and 200 cGy total body irradiation. The kidney transplant was performed day 0. G-CSF mobilized peripheral blood stem cells processed to remove GVHD-producing cells and retain graft facilitating cells (FC) was administered on day +1. The conditioning was well tolerated and the subjects were managed as outpatients after post-operative day 2. This has resulted in high levels of durable chimerism and immunosuppression-free graft survival without GVHD or engraftment syndrome in mismatched related and unrelated recipients of living donor FC/hematopoietic stem cell/kidney allografts. Nine subjects are completely off immunosuppression from 2 months to 3 years. A number of others are in the process of tapering. In the present study, we have prospectively analyzed recovery of immune function, persistence of vaccination memory, and response to vaccination in subjects who exhibit high levels of chimerism. Chimerism testing was performed using molecular short tandem report (sensitivity ±5%). Three of four subjects who had been vaccinated to hepatitis B prior to transplantation and whose donors had not been vaccinated retained their immunity following transplantation. All subjects tested exhibited memory for varicella and the majority did as well for measles (9/11), mumps (8/11), and rubella (5/10). A blood group disparity was present in 9 chimeric donor/recipient pairs. One chimeric subject converted to donor blood type, 3 exhibited mixed donor/host RBC chimerism, and 5 retained their own blood type. Six chimeric subjects have been immunized with pneumococcal vaccine after transplantation. All generated an immune response to vaccination, confirming immunocompetence to generate an antibody response to antigen. Notably, recovery of CD8 + and CD4 + central memory, naive, and effector memory T cells occurred within one year post-transplantation to levels that were not significantly different from pre-transplantation. In addition, CD31 + /CD45RA + CD8 + and CD4 + T cells representative of recent thymic emigrants were present by 3 months, demonstrating de novo thymic production of T cells after transplantation. Four patients were randomly selected for study of Tcell repertoire (TCR) generation after transplantation. Two had achieved durable full donor chimerism and the other two did not have durable chimerism. Peripheral blood samples freshly obtained from donors and recipients and T cell subsets were isolated using MACs microbead system. DNA was extracted and sequenced by ImmunoSeq (Adaptive Biotech, Seattle, WA) to evaluate TCR clonal repertoires in recipients. Although clonal diversity in TCR repertoire was reduced in post-Tx recipients (0.9 ± 0.05 pre-Tx vs. 0.79 ± 0.09 post-Tx), the repertoire was diverse enough to suggest recovery of immune competence. Interestingly, at least 97% of the unique sequences observed in post-Tx recipient were not present in either donor or recipient pre-Tx. Within the pool of shared sequences, full chimerism correlated with a shift towards homology with the donor, while loss of chimerism correlated with recipient pre-Tx. In addition, the chimeric patients also exhibited reduced diversity of TCR sequences and increased clonality. Top 20 "high frequency" clones are most stably expressed. CD8 + cells had the highest number of "high frequency" clones. Notably, the pattern of "low frequency" clones was highest in the CD127 - CD4 + CD25 + regulatory T cell subset, indicating an extensive and rapidly changing TCR repertoire. Taken together, these data suggest that immunologic recovery is robust in these nonmyeloablatively conditioned tolerant chimeric subjects. Disclosures: Bozulic: Regenerex, LLC: Employment. Badder: Regenerex, LLC: Employment. Ildstad: Regenerex, LLC: Equity Ownership.


Dyspareunia and vaginismus are two common and extremely frustrating sexual dysfunctions for women. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) lists them as two separate disorders in the subcategory of sexual dysfunctions.

Belief that her vagina is too small may be one of the reasons for a woman's fear of vaginal penetration. (Cinesias entreating Myrrhina to coition, 1896, by Aubrey Beardsley)

Dyspareunia is recurrent genital pain associated with sexual activity and can be classified as primary, when pain has always occurred during sexual activity, or secondary, when it occurs after a period of pain free lovemaking. The term is usually used to describe pain on penetration, but it can occur during genital stimulation. It is best described according to the site of the pain.

Traditionally, it was thought that superficial dyspareunia (at or around the vaginal entrance) is likely to have a psychogenic origin, whereas deep dyspareunia is likely to have an organic cause. These explanations are no longer considered helpful. It is important to try to identify the history of the pain, its site, sort, severity, onset, duration, and any other associated factors. Look for any physical abnormalities and discuss their effects on the sexual relationship. It must be remembered that physical signs are not always visible, and vulval histology is sometimes required. It is never enough to suggest that dyspareunia is simply psychological, and it should be looked at medically before any psychological components are considered.

Cycle of sexual pain and avoidance of sexual activity

Repeated sexual pain can set up a cycle of pain, in which fear of pain leads to avoidance of the sexual activity that produces it, in turn leading to lack of arousal, failure to achieve orgasm, and loss of sexual desire. This can progress to total avoidance of sexual activity and …


This paper makes two points. First, Section 5 of the FTC Act, properly construed, is indeed significantly broader and more encompassing than the Sherman Act or Clayton Act. Section 5 violations include incipient violations of the other antitrust laws, and also violations of their policy or spirit. Second, the best - and probably the only - way to interpret Section 5 in an expansive manner is to do so in a way that also is relatively definite, predictable, principled and clearly bounded. This best can be done if Section 5 is articulated using the consumer choice framework. Without the discipline and constraints provided by this framework, the FTC Act risks becoming unduly standardless. Unless the Commission uses the choice framework, any attempt to construe Section 5 that goes beyond the other antitrust laws risks being viewed as giving undue discretion to the Commission, and for this reason probably will not be permitted by reviewing courts. The paper also presents three illustrations of how this could make a beneficial difference in practice: situations similar to the N Data case, invitations to collude, and incipient tying and exclusive dealing violations.


The project is a museum for acoustical instruments. It offers an architectural walk through a series of varied exhibition spaces that exist within a unifying construction. The project's intention has been to tackle the need to structure the site; to make a circulation in the museum that allows for different ways to see both instruments and surroundings, while at the same time offering indoor and outdoor spaces with the potential for extended use. The concrete structure protects the interior and exterior spaces from the noise of the trafficked surroundings. The structure also solves how the building meets the complicated ground, and provides the backbone for the spatial organization. Within the structure the instruments and their sound can be rearranged, played and listened to.


We describe techniques that allow inexpensive, ultra-thin, battery-free Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags to be turned into simple paper input devices. We use sensing and signal processing techniques that determine how a tag is being manipulated by the user via an RFID reader and show how tags may be enhanced with a simple set of conductive traces that can be printed on paper, stencil-traced, or even hand-drawn. These traces modify the behavior of contiguous tags to serve as input devices. Our techniques provide the capability to use off-the-shelf RFID tags to sense touch, cover, overlap of tags by conductive or dielectric (insulating) materials, and tag movement trajectories. Paper prototypes can be made functional in seconds. Due to the rapid deployability and low cost of the tags used, we can create a new class of interactive paper devices that are drawn on demand for simple tasks. These capabilities allow new interactive possibilities for pop-up books and other papercraft objects.


Lacking a tradition of settling immigrants and the appropriate infrastructure to integrate them, small- and medium-sized cities often face the challenge of attracting and retaining immigrants. Using a mixed methods approach, this study compares the experiences of immigrant and non-immigrant entrepreneurs in a mid-sized Canadian city, Kelowna, British Columbia. A survey reveals different experiences between these two groups, with immigrants facing more challenges. In the absence of institutionally complete communities or strong ethnic economies, immigrants do not rely extensively on their own community resources, an element considered instrumental for immigrant business development in large cities. Compared to non-immigrants, immigrant entrepreneurs have a more optimistic outlook on doing business in Kelowna; this is encouraging for a city trying hard to attract immigrant investment. Key informants recommended transforming the city into a more welcoming community, establishing appropriate support infrastructure, and removing potential institutional offsets. This paper adds new theoretical insights to the literature on immigrant entrepreneurship; all socio-cultural, political-institutional, and economic-structural considerations are embedded in geography. The findings also have implications for growth strategies in small- and medium-sized cities.


The recent reform of the agricultural policy in the EU provides totally new frame conditions for farmers. Main components of the reform are the decoupling of direct payments and particular for dairy farmers the reduction of intervention prices for milk products such as butter and SMP. The objective of this analysis is to develop strategies for dairy farmers considering the initial situation of four typical farm sizes at different productivity levels, debt-to-equity ratios and risk attitudes. The uncertainty of the price development for milk itself as well as for milk quotas will be covered using Monte Carlo simulations. Due to decreasing intervention prices profitability of milk production is endangered in most dairy farms and the values of assets will decrease. For most low to medium efficient dairy farms it was found, that selling the cow herd and the reference quantity immediately would yield highest values for net worth. If the current favourable situation for selling the reference quantity is missed, continual production would be better. For the remaining dairy farms it is most important to uncover all resources to improve efficiency by reducing production costs and increasing milk yields. These farmers can wait with further investments until milk quota prices have settled on the expected lower level. Only high efficient dairy farmers, normally with higher milk yields and the advantage of econo-mies of scale can get profit from further milk production. The micro economic analysis derived from the typical farms concludes that quota is not longer limiting factor in all regions as long as there is still surplus of milk in EU and prices for dairy products on world markets are relatively low.


An investigation was undertaken into the cause of Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) larvae epizootics occurring in a commercial hatchery located at Bicheno, Tasmania. An extensive monitoring survey was conducted at the hatchery to characterise the microbiological environment in the immediate vicinity of the larvae associated with different production outcomes. The surveys were performed over a 12-month period and included eight different production runs. Seven of the eight production runs terminated in disease incidence with larvae exhibiting disease symptoms consistent with bacterial infection previously described as bacillary necrosis, caused primarily by pathogenic Vibrio spp. Using production data records, physiochemical data, dissolved nutrient analysis, bacterial cultivation, TRFLP fingerprinting and 16S rRNA gene clone library analysis, two separate investigations were undertaken. In the first investigation microbial communities in each compartment of the larvae tank (water column, larvae, biofilm) as well as inputs into the tank (algae feed, seawater, and eggs) were characterised in both an intensive flow-though system and low intensity batch system, in order to understand the microbial ecological context in which disease occurred. Temporal variability of microbial communities was measured as an indicator of system stability. It was shown that microbial communities of the larvae and water column varied primarily with larvae age and sampling period and that the most likely cause of variability with sampling period was variability in the seawater. Altered culture conditions changed the microbial communities of the water column but larvae communities were shown to be largely resistant to change experienced in the water column. Larvae microbial communities were closely related to the indigenous microbial communities of the egg. Thus formation of the indigenous microbial community during spawning and fertilisation may be a control point for management of the microbial composition of the larvae and potentially for managing disease incidence. The presence of predominant non-typical marine species of the genera, Sphingomonas and Ramlibacte, in eggs and larvae samples, indicated a non-marine source of contamination occurring during spawning and fertilisation. The second investigation characterised the microbial environment associated with the emergence of disease 3
symptoms, and the underlying cause of disease. There was no predominant characteristic microbial community in the larvae or water column associated with disease and no recognised bacterial pathogens were detected using culture-independent methods of assessment. Vibrio population numbers peaked with the emergence of disease symptoms but remained only a minor component of the total population as indicated by prevalence in 16S rRNA gene clone libraries and next generation sequencing. Larvae aggregative behaviour near the tank bottom prior to the development of definitive disease symptoms indicated a non-microbiological primary cause of disease, or a microbiological etiology that occurred below the detection limits of 16S rRNA gene-based analyses used. Following the monitoring study an investigation was undertaken into the effect of environmental stressors on the susceptibility of larvae to bacterial challenge. Larvae were exposed to different levels of copper for 24 and 48 h before being challenged with three different bacterial species. It was shown that sub-lethal levels of Cu decreased larvae activity and increased larvae susceptibility to bacterial attack under some conditions. Relative to sub-lethal levels larvae exposed to the lethality threshold of 25 ppb Cu had higher activity levels and higher survival rates in subsequent bacterial challenge, which may indicate induction of the so called heat-shock response. Larvae behaviour was modified at Cu levels as low as 2.5 ppb, which indicates that behaviour could be used as a sensitive biomarker of Cu stress and potentially other forms of chemical stress. The behavioural response to different concentrations of Cu was non-linear and differed with duration of exposure, indicating that behavioural assessments should be made across a range of concentrations and also across a 24 – 48 h time period.


There is evidence suggesting that watching movies usually provokes an emotional response in the audience that may differ according to the type of film viewed. For example, Grodal (2009) argues that the type of response provoked by mainstream cinema is different from that elicited by avant-garde films. In visually impaired audiences, the emotional impact of films is inevitably mediated by the Audio Description (AD) provided. In most countries AD norms do not cater for variations between different types of films. There exists, therefore, the possibility that the emotional impact of the film could be affected or altered by the AD. This paper aims to explore possible differences in the response of sighted versus unsighted audiences when watching avant-garde and narrative films. A pilot study is designed to measure the emotional response through self-response questionnaires. Our results indicate that differences between both types of audience are more prominent for avant-garde films.


The New York Museum of Modern Art. United Airlines. The National Basketball Association. Landscape architects. Miss America. Kareem Abdul Jabar. The American Hospital Association. A growing number of banks of every size across America. And even Idaho license plates. What all of these organizations, professionals, celebrities, and a host of other groups I haven't mentioned share is that they are all partners with General Colin Powell and "America's Promise." General Powell leads a growing volunteer coalition of some of the finest organizations and public leaders in America today, all dedicated to helping America's young people get the start on life so many of them need. Banks, too, are lining up by the hundreds--826 as of this writing--to give kids and youth hope, skills, and encouragement for the future. The ABA invites you to join us, as well. The symbol of "America's Promise" is a child's red wagon, the kind many of us remember from childhood. It takes a helping hand to pull a red wagon, and many hands can pull many wagons. Or as Colin Powell says, "If we all pitch in, we can make the American Dream live again for the next generation and the next century. We can keep America s Promise." I had an opportunity to meet Colin Powell in person recently. His credibility as a spokesperson and his passion for the task are undeniable. I came away convinced that he is truly an inspirational leader, a man of deep convictions, and a tireless advocate for young people. How can your bank help in the effort to provide America's youth with access to the resources they need to grow into successful adults? You can join with the ABA and America's Promise by agreeing to provide some or all of five "fundamental resources" for young people in your community. The five fundamental resources of America's Promise are: * establishing a relationship with a caring adult mentor, tutor, or coach; * creating a safe place with structured activities where young people can learn and grow during nonschool hours; * ensuring kids a healthy start in life; * providing the opportunity for young people to learn a marketable skill through effective education; and * providing kids and young people a chance to give back through community service. Most bankers have people on their staffs who are already excellent mentors and coaches. Or maybe there's a way the bank can welcome young people after school. …


An articulated rod (made from 4337 steel (AMS 6412) forging, quenched and tempered to 36 to 40 HRC) used in an overhauled aircraft engine was fractured after being in operation for 138 h. Visual examination revealed that the rod was broken into two pieces 6.4 cm from the center of the piston-pin-bushing bore. The fracture was nucleated at an electroetched numeral 5 on one of the flange surfaces. A notch, caused by arc erosion during electroetching, was revealed by metallographic examination of a polished-and-etched section through the fracture origin. A remelted zone and a layer of untempered martensite constituted the microstructure of the metal at the origin. Small cracks, caused by the high temperatures developed during electro-etching, were observed in the remelted area. It was concluded that fatigue fracture of the rod was caused by the notch resulting from electroetching and thus electroetched marking of the articulated rods was discontinued as a corrective measure.


Background & Aims: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a self-management disease and depression is a common problem related to it. One of the causes of depression is serotonin (5-HT) depleted. The enzyme tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH) is known as limiting enzyme in the production of 5-HT in the brain. Aerobic exercise also has proven benefits in treating and reducing the incidence of chronic diseases such as diabetes. Thus, in this study, we examine the effect of aerobic training on 5-HT and TPHof prefrontal cortex in type 2 diabetic rats. Materials & Methods: This study is experimental and post-test. 30 rats were randomly divided into 3 groups: 1healthy control 2diabetic control and 3exercise diabetic. Groups 2 and 3 received streptozotocin (37mg/kg) by intraperitoneal injection two weeks after the high-fat diet Diabetic training 5 times a week for 8 weeks run on a treadmill with duration and intensity that in the final weeks were 55 min / d and 26 m / min , respectively. 24 hours after the last exercise the prefrontal cortex of mice tissue samples of all groups were extracted and 5-HT (μg/g) and TPHconcentration was measured respectively by Elisa and Western Blotting from prefrontal cortex tissue samples. To evaluate the differences between the group of design, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey post hoc test at the significance level was less than 0.05 were used. Results: Statistical analysis showed that 5-HT levels in the diabetic group were significantly lower than the healthy control group (P=0.001) and exercise diabetic (P=0.009) and average 5-HT between control group and exercise diabetic has no significant difference. TPH results show that the average diabetic groups were significantly lower than the healthy control group (P=0.000). The results showed that the amount of TPH in the exercise diabetic group was significantly higher than the diabetic control group (P=0.000). Conclusion: In this study, diabetes reduces 5-HT in the prefrontal cortex. Some studies have shown that inflammation in type 2 increases the cytokines IL-6 and TNF-α, and these cytokines by increasing the activity of indolamine 2, 3 dioxygenase in the brain alters the metabolism of tryptophan and reduces the production of 5-HT. Chronic activity reduces systemic and tissue inflammation, thus increasing 5-HT in the brain. The reduction of TPH due to diabetes can also be the factors that affect in the decrease of prefrontal


Introduction: One of the most common applications of medical isotopes is in treatment of cancer and hyperthyroidism using Iodine-131. The Iodine-131 cumulates in cancerous cells and acts as a source of radioactive emissions. Apparently, local and temporal distributions of the radioactive material are different in various organs. In this paper, the effect of radioactive Iodine distribution on the amount of exposure at different distances has been investigated. Materials & Methods: This analysis has been carried out using adult NCAT phantoms, Monte-Carlo simulation, and GATE code. By applying the same amount of activity on five different organs of the phantom, the quality and quantity of energy has been computed as well as the amount of emitted exposures at distances of one, two, and three meters. Then, by setting thyroid as the basis, the difference of exposure emitted from other four organs has been calculated and analyzed using KS test. Findings: Simulation results had been showed that the amounts of exposure that emitted from aforementioned organs are significantly different at the distance of one meter whereas this difference diminishes significantly at distances of two and three meters. In other words, the effect of radioactive Iodine integration location on the emitted exposure is being trivial as the distance increases. Discussion & Conclusions: Distinct TEDE values must be defined for each of the aforementioned organs and confirmed before releasing patients who will be faced to the others at short distances. Otherwise, guidelines must be considered for the others who will be faced to the released patient.


This thesis introduces techniques to utilize information theory, particularly entropy for enhancing data visualization and exploration. The ultimate goal with this work is to enable users to perceive as much as information available for recognizing objects, detecting regular or non-regular patterns and reducing user effort while executing the required tasks. We believe that the metrics to be set for enhancing computer generated visualizations should be quantifiable and that quantification should measure the information perception of the user. The proper way to solve this problem is utilizing information theory, particularly entropy. Entropy offers quantification of the information amount in a general communication system. In the communication model, information sender and information receiver are connected with a channel. We are inspired from this model and exploited it in a different way, namely we set the information sender as the data to be visualized, the information receiver as the viewer and the communication channel as the screen where the visualized image is displayed. In this thesis we explore the usage of entropy in three different visualization problems, -Enhancing the visualization of large scale social networks for better perception, -Finding the best representational images of a 3D object to visually inspect with minimal loss of information, -Automatic navigation over a 3D terrain with minimal loss of information. Visualization of large scale social networks is still a major challenge for information visualization researchers. When a thousand nodes are displayed on the screen with the lack of coloring, sizing and filtering mechanisms, the users generally do not perceive much on the first look. They usually use pointing devices or keyboard for zooming and panning to find the information that they are looking for. With this thesis we tried to present a visualization approach that uses coloring, sizing and filtering to help the users recognize the presented information. The second problem that we tried to tackle is finding the best representational images of 3D models. This problem is highly subjective in cognitive manner. The best or good definitions do not depend on any metric or any quantification, furthermore, when the same image is presented to two different users it can be identified differently. However in this thesis we tried to map some metrics to best or good definitions for representational images, such as showing the maximum faces, maximum saliency or combination of both in an image. The third problem that we tried to find a solution is automatic terrain navigation with minimal loss of information. The information to be quantified on this problem is taken as the surface visibility of a terrain. However the visibility problem is changed with the heuristic that users generally focus on city centers, buildings and interesting points during terrain exploration. In order to improve the information amount at the time of navigation, we should focus on those areas. Hence we employed the road network data, and set the heuristic that intersections of road network segments are the residential places. In this problem, region extraction using road network data, viewpoint entropy for camera positions, and automatic camera path generation methods are investigated.


This paper explores two inter-connected issues – the state's role in educational development and educational contribution to economic development – in the policy processes entailed by the South Korean state's pursuit of economic development during the Park Chung Hi era, 1961-1979. It disputes the statist view that South Korea's economic development was the outcome of a strong state's imposition of developmental policies. It also denies the human capital account that central to the South Korean state's education policy was the skills formation agendum. In this paper's process analysis, educational contribution to economic development was made most importantly in the entrance competition-swept schools by virtue of their equipping South Koreans with basic knowledge and intellectual skills and the most important educational asset for economic development was those schools' explosive growth. The latter took place as an unexpected effect of the state's developmental policy of containment which aimed to secure scarce funds for strategic developmental projects. This policy intensified entrance competitions, boosted demand for education, and provoked public call for state commitment to educational expansion. The legitimacy-deficient regime responded politically and compromised on the developmental education policy from one level of formal schooling to another. The image of the developmental state thus portrayed is quite contrary to that provided by the statist-human capital perspective.


In Romania, one third of territory is affected by soil erosion process, doubled by a dry trend in climate, therefore, there are necessary ample measures of antierosional works. Among these, antierosional forest belts and plantations establishment represent a major approach. The present work has as the main objective to Romanian bibliographically reference the types and establishment modalities of antierosional works, as well as main areas where they have been established. In recent observations, we have analyzed the behavior of the tree species, forest belts spatial design and its antierosional efficiency in different zones from the country. Antierosional forest belts are to be established on contour lines of the affected or predisposed to erosin versants. Space between belts is determined based on the criticial erosion distance, as varying between 100150 m to 300 m, depending on the erosion degree, lands topography and land use. Belts width is set upon both rainfall and land features, as varying between 10 - 20 m up to 60 m on strongly eroded slopes. Regarding the species assortment, the most efficient, both in terms of halting erosion and stand evolution, shows the mixes of principal, secondary and shrubs woody species, in a designed spatial structure with tallest tree species centrally positioned, while other species are placed toward the edges of belts in descending height order to bushes on both sides. Most promising tree species for further use in the composition of the antierosional forest belts are: oaks, sycamore, maple, ash, common walnut, cherry, locust, honey locust, flowering ash, Siberian elm, field maple, Tartarian maple, osage-orange, oleaster, cherry-plum, as well as shrubs: hazelnut, male dogwood, blakthorn, dog rose, under different shares depending on stational conditions. The antierosional forest belts previously established, through their both exceptional functional value and rich biodiversity, represents ecologic, social and economic environmental assets, offering the basics the future action of designing and execution works. Based on obtained results there were prepared appropriate recommendations; toward continuing of establishment of antierosional forest belts under different conditions.


To the Editor: Rickettsia sibirica subsp. mongolitimonae is an intracellular bacterium that belongs to the species R. sibirica (1). To date, only 11 cases of infection with this bacterium have been reported (2–6). We report a case in a pregnant woman with ocular vasculitis.

A 20-year-old woman in the 10th week of her pregnancy was admitted in June 2005 to St. Eloi Hospital in Montpellier, France, with an 8-day history of fever, eschar, hemifacial edema, and headache. On examination the day of admission, she had a fever of 38.5°C, headache, and frontal eschar surrounded by an inflammatory halo. Painful retroauricular and cervical lymphadenopathies were noted. Results of a clinical examination were otherwise within normal limits. No tick bite was reported by the patient, although she had been walking a few days before in Camargue (southern France). Serologic results for R. conorii, R. typhi, Brucella spp., Borrelia spp., and Coxiella burnetii were negative.

One day after admission, she reported loss of vision (scotoma) in her right eye. She underwent a complete ophthalmic evaluation. Measurement of visual acuity and results of a slit-lamp examination were within normal limits, but a funduscopic examination showed a white retinal macular lesion that corresponded in a fluorescein angiograph to an area of retinal ischemia induced by vascular inflammation and subsequent occlusion (Figure). The following day, a rash with a few maculopapular elements developed, which involved only the palms of the hands and soles of the feet. Mediterranean spotted fever was suspected. Cyclines and fluoroquinolones were contraindicated because of her pregnancy, and the patient had a history of maculopapular rash after taking josamycin. She was treated with azithromycin, 500 mg/day for 10 days, under close surveillance. After 2 days of treatment, she was afebrile and the rash completely resolved. No obstetric complications occurred and she gave birth to a healthy boy at term. Two years later, the right scotoma remained unchanged.

Figure

Fluorescein angiograph of the right eye of the patient showing retinal occlusive vasculitis with arteriolar leakage at late phase.

Serologic tests for rickettsiosis were performed with an acute-phase serum sample and a convalescent-phase serum sample (1 month after onset of symptoms). Samples were sent to the World Health Organization Collaborative Center in Marseille for rickettsial reference and research. Immunoglobulin (Ig) G and IgM titers were estimated by using a microimmunofluorescence assay; results were negative. Culture of a skin biopsy specimen from the eschar showed negative results.

DNA was extracted from eschar biopsy specimen and used as template in a PCR with primers complementary to portions of the coding sequences of the rickettsial outer membrane protein A and citrate synthase genes as described (5). Nucleotide sequences of the PCR products were determined. All sequences shared 100% similarity with R. sibirica subsp. mongolotimonae when compared with those in the GenBank database.

Infections caused by R. sibirica subsp. mongolitimonae have been reported as lymphangitis-associated rickettsiosis (4). Our case-patient had the clinical symptoms reported for this disease: fever, maculopapular rash, eschar, enlarged satellite lymph nodes, and lymphangitis. Seasonal occurrence of this disease in the spring is common and has been reported in 9 of 12 cases, including the case-patient reported here (2–6). A total of 75% of these R. sibirica subsp. mongolitimonae infections occurred in southern France; other cases have been recently reported in Greece (5), Portugal (6), and South Africa (7). However, the vector of R. sibirica subsp. mongolitimonae has not been identified (7). This rickettsia has been isolated from Hyalomma asiaticum ticks in Inner Mongolia, from H. truncatum in Niger (8), and from H. anatolicum excavatum in Greece (5). Hyalomma spp. ticks are suspected of being the vector and are widespread in Africa, southeastern Europe (including France), and Asia.

Rickettsiosis caused by R. rickettsii and R. conorii during pregnancy has been reported without risk for vertical transmission (9). First-line antimicrobial drugs used to treat rickettsial disease are cyclines and quinolones, but they are contraindicated during pregnancy. Chloramphenicol is an alternative drug for pregnant women but it is not available in France. Macrolides (azithromycin, clarithromycin, and josamycin) are effective against rickettsial disease and can be used safely during pregnancy.

No ocular complications were reported in the 11 previous cases of rickettsiosis caused by R. subsp. mongolitimonae. However, ocular lesions, including optic disk staining, white retinal lesions, retinal hemorrhages, multiple hypofluorescent choroidal dots, mild vitritis, and retinal vasculitis, have been described in patients with rickettsiosis caused by R. conorii, R. rickettsii, and R. typhi (10). Most of these posterior segment manifestations are usually asymptomatic in patients with acute Mediterranean spotted fever (10) and can be easily overlooked. Retinal vasculitis was reported in 45%–55% of the patients, but retinal artery occlusion secondary to vasculitis has been described in only 2 cases of infection with R. conorii and R. rickettsii (10) without details of clinical symptoms. Because ocular involvement could be asymptomatic and easily overlooked, an ophthalmic evaluation should be conducted when rickettsiosis is suspected.


Since their introduction to the natural gas industry in the mid-l990s, multipath ultrasonic flow meters have developed a large installed base and have become the meters of choice for a variety of reasons. While one of the initial goals of the manufacturers was to develop a meter that did not require flow calibration, the accuracy requirements of most measurement applications dictate that ultrasonic flow meters need to be flow calibrated. This paper provides an overview of the calibration process and elements that should be considered by those responsible for the calibration.


Consumers are concerned with fat consumption from meat products and the ability to determine fat has changed with recent technological advances. The objective of this study was to determine fat percentage within marbling scores and compare three fat analysis procedures. Steaks (n = 119) were selected by USDA grading system using an E + V Vision Grading camera at a commercial beef plant during one day. Samples were taken at the 13th rib from both sides of the carcass and aged for 14 d. The right side of the carcass was allotted to Warner-Bratzler shear force and the left side, which was graded by the camera, was allotted to fat extraction. Warner-Bratzler shear force samples were cut into 2.54 cm steaks. Steaks allotted to fat extraction were trimmed of all external fat, twice ground using 8 and 4 mm grinding plates, and split into their allotted fat extraction method. The three methods used in fat extraction were 2:1 chloroform/methanol (Folch), ether-extractable fat (Ether) and microwave drying and nuclear magnetic resonance (CEM). Warner-Bratzler shear force values were not different between marbling scores (P [lesser than] 0.05). Fat percentage increased as marbling score increased (P [greater than] 0.05)). Regression equations were linear for all methods. The R2 values for CEM, Ether, and Folch were 0.824 (P [lesser than] 0.0001), 0.859 (P [lesser than] 0.0001), and 0.816 (P [lesser than] 0.0001). CEM and Folch regression lines had different slopes (P [lesser than] 0.05). The slope of the regression line for Ether was not different (P [greater than] 0.05) from CEM or Folch. Overall, marbling score did not affect tenderness and, as expected, fat percentage increased as marbling score increased regardless of fat determination method


Externai sandhi is a linguistic phenomenon which refers to a set of sound changes that occur at word boundaries. These changes are similar to phonological processes such as assimilation and fusion when they apply at the level of prosody, such as in connected speech. External sandhi formation can be orthographically reflected in some languages. External sandhi formation in such languages, causes the occurrence of forms which are morphologically unanalyzable, thus posing a problem for all kind of NLP applications. In this paper, we discuss the implications that this phenomenon has for the syntactic annotation of sentences in Telugu, an Indian language with agglutinative morphology. We describe in detail, how external sandhi formation in Telugu, if not handled prior to dependency annotation, leads either to loss or misrepresentation of syntactic information in the treebank. This phenomenon, we argue, necessitates the introduction of a sandhi splitting stage in the generic annotation pipeline currently being followed for the treebanking of Indian languages. We identify one type of external sandhi widely occurring in the previous version of the Telugu treebank (version 0.2) and manually split all its instances leading to the development of a new version 0.5. We also conduct an experiment with a statistical parser to empirically verify the usefulness of the changes made to the treebank. Comparing the parsing accuracies obtained on versions 0. 2 and 0. 5 of the treebank, we observe that splitting even just one type of external sandhi leads to an increase in the overall parsing accuracies


A software product line (SPL) is a set of software systems with well-defined commonalities and variabilities that are developed by managed reuse of common artifacts. In this paper, we present a novel approach to implement SPL by fine-grained reuse mechanisms which are orthogonal to class-based inheritance. We introduce the Featherweight Record-Trait Java (FRTJ) calculus where units of product functionality are modeled by traits, a construct that was already shown useful with respect to code reuse, and by records, a construct that complements traits to model the variability of the state part of products explicitly. Records and traits are assembled in classes that are used to build products. This composition of product functionalities is realized by explicit operators of the calculus, allowing code manipulations for modeling product variability. The FRTJ type system ensures that the products in the SPL are type-safe by type-checking only once the records, traits and classes shared by different products. Moreover, type-safety of an extension of a (type-safe) SPL can be guaranteed by checking only the newly added parts.


OBJECTIVES
1. To study the effect of forty days of Yogic exercises on cardiac functions in Type 2 Diabetics. 2. To study the effect of forty days of Yogic exercises on blood glucose level, glycosylated hemoglobin.

METHODS
The present study done in twenty-four Type 2 DM cases provides metabolic and clinical evidence of improvement in glycaemic control and autonomic functions. These middle-aged subjects were type II diabetics on antihyperglycaemic and dietary regimen. Their baseline fasting and postprandial blood glucose and glycosylated Hb were monitored along with autonomic function studies. The expert gave these patients training in yoga asanas and they pursued those 30-40 min/day for 40 days under guidance. These asanas consisted of 13 well known postures, done in a sequence. After 40 days of yoga asanas regimen, the parameters were repeated.

RESULTS
The results indicate that there was significant decrease in fasting blood glucose levels from basal 190.08 +/- 18.54 in mg/dl to 141.5 +/- 16.3 in mg/dl after yoga regimen. The post prandial blood glucose levels decreased from 276.54 +/- 20.62 in mg/dl to 201.75 +/- 21.24 in mg/dl, glycosylated hemoglobin showed a decrease from 9.03 +/- 0.29% to 7.83 +/- 0.53% after yoga regimen. The pulse rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure decreased significantly (from 86.45 +/- 2.0 to 77.65 +/- 2.5 pulse/min, from 142.0 +/- 3.9 to 126.0 +/- 3.2 mm of Hg and from 86.7 +/- 2.5 mm of Hg to 75.5 +/- 2.1 mm of Hg after yoga regimen respectively). Corrected QT interval (QTc) decreased from 0.42 +/- 0.0 to 0.40 +/- 0.0.

CONCLUSION
These findings suggest that better glycaemic control and stable autonomic functions can be obtained in Type 2 DM cases with yoga asanas and pranayama. The exact mechanism as to how these postures and controlled breathing interact with somato-neuro-endocrine mechanism affecting metabolic and autonomic functions remains to be worked out.


We are concerned with a multivariate response regression problem where the interest is in considering correlations both across response variates and across response samples. In this paper we develop a new Bayesian nonparametric model for such a setting based on Dirichlet process priors. Building on an additive kernel model, we allow each sample to have its own regression matrix. Although this overcomplete representation could in principle sufier from severe overfltting problems, we are able to provide efiective control over the model via a matrix-variate Dirichlet process prior on the regression matrices. Our model is able to share statistical strength among regression matrices due to the clustering property of the Dirichlet process. We make use of a Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm for inference and prediction. Compared with other Bayesian kernel models, our model has advantages in both computational and statistical e‐ciency.


Summary Adult honey bees possess a magnetoreception sense similar to other animals such as birds, fish, whales, dolphins, insects, and microbes. Organisms use this sense for orientation purposes during migrations and traveling long distances. The sudden loss and disappearance of honey bees from a hive or apiary has been plaguing beekeepers for more than a century. This age-old disorder predates virtually all herbicides and pesticides, many diseases or pests and honey bee management protocols. To investigate possible involvement of a magnetoreception disorder (MRD) with loss of forager homing abilities: A. magnetized wires were glued to their abdomens; B. foragers were exposed to artificially induced fluctuating magnetic fields; and C. untreated foragers' return rates were monitored during naturally occurring disturbances to Earth's magnetosphere. Treated and untreated foragers were released at varying distances from their hives and their return rates were monitored. Significant differences in their return rates indicated that interactions existed between forager losses and exposure to both static and oscillating magnetic fields, as well as during fluctuations in the Earth's magnetosphere. In addition, D. decreases in untreated forager return rates also correlated with increasing intensity of extraterrestrial protons that entered Earth's atmosphere. Finally, winter colony losses in the northeast USA also correlated with annual geomagnetic storm occurrences. Collectively, these five observations indicate that coronal eruptions on the Sun are involved with interference of a forager's magnetoreception sense here on Earth. How abnormal magnetic fields and fluctuations relate to the epidemiology of honey bee losses is consistent with their behaviour and development.