Next generation THz applications require specially tailored THz pulses. Systems that use optical rectification in crystals as their THz source are susceptible to changes in the pulse envelope. Our feedback-loop system designed around a pulse shaper with a liquid crystal mask can shape the phase and amplitude of the excitation pulse and optimize the shape of the emitted THz waveform. This is demonstrated using as an example the creation of single-cycle THz pulses.


The numerical solution of the complete power flow equation is reported and employed to investigate the state of mode coupling along a step-index plastic optical fiber. This solution is based on the explicit finite-difference method and, in contrast to earlier solutions, does not neglect absorption and scattering loss. It is the only solution that can accommodate any input condition throughout the entire range of feasible input angles without the need for restriction to those angles that are sufficiently far away from critical. Our results for the field patterns at different locations along one type of fiber are in agreement with reported measurements earlier. Furthermore, the length of fiber required for achieving a steady-state mode distribution matches the analytical solution that is available for such distribution as a special case. Mode coupling in plastic fibers is known to affect fiber-optic power delivery, data transmission, and sensing systems.


Miar, Y., Plastow, G. S., Bruce, H. L., Moore, S. S., Durunna, O. N., Nkrumah, J. D. and Wang, Z. 2014. Estimation of genetic and phenotypic parameters for ultrasound and carcass merit traits in crossbred beef cattle. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 94: 273-280. Ultrasound measurements of 852 crossbred steers along with carcass merit measurements on 756 of them were used to examine their genetic and phenotypic parameters. Traits including ultrasound backfat thickness (UBF), ultrasound ribeye area (UREA), ultrasound marbling (UMAR), carcass weight (CWT), carcass grade fat (CGF), carcass average backfat thickness (CABF), carcass ribeye area (CREA), carcass marbling score (CMAR), and carcass lean meat yield (CLMY) were measured on 6 yr of residual feed intake trials from 2003 to 2008. Pairwise bivariate animal models were performed for each combination of traits using ASReml software to estimate heritability, phenotypic and genetic correlations among the traits. Significant fixed effects (contemporary group, and sire breed), covariates (age of dam, slaughter weight, and start test age of animal), and random additive effect were fitted in the models. The heritability estimates for UBF, UREA, UMAR, CWT, CGF, CABF, CREA, CMAR, and CLMY were 0.31, 0.17, 0.37, 0.40, 0.22, 0.25, 0.24, 0.38, and 0.28, respectively. Most of the phenotypic correlations were significant (P<0.05). CWT had low to moderate phenotypic correlations with most of the traits. Results show that heavier CWT tends to have more UREA, CGF, CABF, and CREA. Genetic correlations among these traits varied from weak to strong, but most of them were not significantly different from zero. Greater CREA may lead to decreased UMAR, and UBF due to negative genetic correlations (-0.56±0.32, and -0.45±0.23, respectively). The results support the potential value of ultrasound technology in crossbreed beef cattle breeding programs to generate indicator traits for carcass quality. In addition, carcass lean meat yield correlated favourably with backfat thickness and rib eye area but correlated unfavourably with UMAR. The estimated genetic parameters for ultrasound and carcass merit traits can be incorporated into breeding programs that emphasize carcass quality in Canadian crossbred beef cattle populations.


Biomarkers play an important role in the detection and management of cancer patients. In gastrointestinal cancer, there is increasing interest in their development and validation according to specific tumor type. Prognostic biomarkers enable identification of patients with a more aggressive tumor evolution, while predictive biomarkers permit the identification of patients with a higher probability of responding or not to a specific treatment. Several biomarkers are currently widely employed in gastrointestinal cancers. These include rat sarcoma-2 virus (RAS) which is used to identify colorectal cancer (CRC) patients who will not respond to anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) agents, while in gastric cancer, anti-human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) therapy has been shown to only be active in HER2-positive patients. In pancreatic cancer, BRCA is a tool used to differentiate patients who are likely to respond to platinum-based combination therapies and to benefit from poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors. This review provides an update of the main biomarkers currently used in colorectal, gastric and pancreatic cancers, and reviews those that are being developed.


Fifty-two wee mutants that undergo mitosis and cell division at a reduced size compared with wild type have been genetically analyzed. The mutants define two genes, wee1 and cdc2, which control the timing of mitosis. Fifty-one of the mutants map at the wee1 locus, which is unlinked to any known cdc gene. One of the wee1 alleles has been shown to be nonsense suppressible. The 52nd were mutant maps within cdc2. Previously, only temperature-sensitive mutants that become blocked at mitosis have been found at the cdc2 locus. The simplest interpretation of these observations is that wee1+ codes for a negative element or inhibitor, and cdc2+ codes for a positive element or activator in the mitotic control. The gene dosage of wee1+ plays some role in determining the timing of mitosis, but the gene dosage of cdc2+ has little effect. However, some aspect of the cdc2 gene product activity is important for determining when mitosis takes place. The possible roles of wee1 and cdc2 in the mitotic control are discussed, with particular reference to the part they may play in the monitoring of cell growth rate, both of which influence the timing of mitosis.


The purpose of this project was the modeling, optimization and prediction of a hybrid system composed of a fuel cell, a dc-dc converter and a supercapacitor in series. Lab tests were performed for each device to understand their behavior, and then each one was modeled using software (Simulink). The validation of the model was done by comparing its results with measured data; finally the model was used for the optimization and the prediction of the hybrid system.


Abstract We have used a technique for the direct cloning in soft agar of human ovarian cancer cells (Hamburger et al. , Cancer Res., 38: 3438–3444, 1978) to grow ovarian cancer colonies from 81% of malignant effusions obtained from 27 patients with ovarian cancer as well as from 92% of cytologically malignant peritoneal washings from 13 patients, collected in the absence of ascites. Ovarian cancer colonies were grown from washings obtained at peritoneoscopy or via an indwelling Tenckhoff dialysis catheter. No ovarian cancer colony growth was observed in cytologically negative peritoneal washings from 13 patients with ovarian cancer. Sufficient clonogenic malignant cells were collected by copious peritoneal lavage to allow for in vitro chemotherapy sensitivity testing using this same assay in three of six patients. These results indicate that the sensitivity of human ovarian cancer cells to antitumor agents can be determined even in patients without malignant effusion or readily biopsiable tumors if they have malignant peritoneal washings. Thirty separate in vitro chemotherapy sensitivity assays were performed using Adriamycin, cis -platinum, melphalan, and 5-fluorouracil. In previously treated patients, there were no instances of in vitro sensitivity using these agents at doses approximating clinically achievable plasma levels. However, in untreated patients, in vitro sensitivity to melphalan and Adriamycin was observed. These in vitro results correspond to clinically observed patterns of chemotherapy sensitivity in patients with ovarian cancer and provide indirect evidence that the stem cell assay is predictive for in vitro sensitivity to antitumor agents.


Introduction The primary focus of a library is service. It is widely recognized that service quality and consumer satisfaction are essential for retaining current consumers and attracting new ones. The traditional method of measuring the quality of an academic library in quantifiable terms of its collection and use does not offer an indication of the quality of service, and new ways to measure quality in libraries have emerged during the past decade. Although every teacher and research scholar now have ready access to online resources, the role of the traditional documents is still important. Methodology The present study is a survey of teachers and research scholars of different universities of Northwestern India . A questionnaires was distributed to the sample population selected for the study. Random sampling was used to select those surveyed. Out of 1,500 questionnaires distributed, 1,124 were returned. Of the 1,124 respondents, 57 percent are research scholars and the remaining 43 percent are faculty members. Data were analyzed using percentages chi-square and t-test. The universities surveyed under the study are: State University Abbreviation A. Haryana Kurukshetra University Kurukshetra KUK Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak MDU Guru Jembheswar University, Hisar GJU Chaudhary Charn Singh Haryana Agriculture CCSHAU University, Hisar B. Punjab Punjab University, Chandigarh PU Panjabi University, Patiala Pbi Uni. Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar GNDU Punjab Agriculture University, Ludhiana PAU C. Himachal Himachal Pardesh University, Simla HPU Pardesh Chaudhary Swarn Kumar Krishi Viswvidyalya, CSKKVV Palampur YS Parmar Univ. Y.S. Parmar University of Forestry and Horticulture, Noani (Solan) D. Delhi University of Delhi, Delhi DU Jawahar Lal University, Delhi JNU Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha GGSIPU University, Delhi Jamia Millia Islamia University, Delhi JMI All these universities are recognized by the University Grants Commission (UGC) of India . Previous Studies Significant studies have been conducted on the use of libraries by students, research scholars, and faculty members. Jorosi (2006) looked at information needs and information seeking behaviours of small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) managers in Botswana 's manufacturing industry, using a self-administered questionnaire. The key findings of the study are that SME managers devote a significant amount of time to active information-seeking and spend an average of five hours per week seeking information on customer and competition information. Bouazza and Mufaraji (2005) looked at school library use by teachers, finding that 36 percent use the library Once a week, while and 32 percent rarely use the library. Similarly, Shokeen and Kaushik (2002), who looked at the information-seeking behavior of social scientists found that a large majority of respondents visited the library daily, and a significant number twice a week. Singh (2002) conducted a study on faculty members at the University of Delhi. He found that 36 percent visit the library to prepare notes for teaching, and that nearly 60 percent visit the library two-to-four times a week. Lohar and Kumbar (2002) found that a majority of respondents visit the library to consult textbooks or reference books and to read newspapers and popular magazines. Nearly 70 percent consulted the library catalogue. …


The ability to create a stunning black and white image remains one of photographys greatest and most aspirational skills. Being able to "see" in black and white is an enviable capability, and a well-crafted black and white photograph remains the finest of the fine arts. Master photographer Vincent Versace has spent his career teaching the art of perception and how to translate it into extraordinary black and white images. In From Oz to Kansas: Almost Every Black and White Conversion Technique Known to Man, Versace discusses digital black and white photographywith a nod to traditional film-based techniques. As Versace states, today the goal is "to use what was right and good about silver photography, leaving behind what was limiting, and use what is right and good about digital photography, while avoiding its pitfalls. This is what this book is all about." The reason you must learn "almost every black and white conversion technique known to man" is because, depending on the imageand your goals for itthere are many paths you can take in order to arrive at your final destination. Working through Versaces techniques will give you the essential knowledge you need, as well as the ability to select the appropriate conversion technique for any image, allowing you to create a black and white image that best and most accurately reflects what you felt at the moment that you pressed the shutter. Foreword by Dr. Richard Zakia, Professor Emeritus, Rochester Institute of Technology Afterword by John Fraser, Chef and Proprietor, Dovetail Restaurant, New York


This paper explores the degree of structural change of the Philippine economy using the inputoutput framework. It examines how linkages among economic sectors evolved over 1979–2000, and identifies which economic sectors exhibited the highest intersectoral linkages. We find that manufacturing is consistently the key sector in the Philippine economy. Specifically, resource intensive and scale-intensive manufacturing industries exhibit the highest linkages. We also find a growing impact on the economy of private services and transportation, communication, and storage sectors, probably due to the globalization of these activities. Overall, however, the services sector exhibits lower intersectoral linkages than the manufacturing sector. We conclude that the Philippines cannot afford to leapfrog the industrialization stage and largely depend on a service-oriented economy when the potential for growth still lies primarily in manufacturing.


BACKGROUND: The epidemiology and comparative burden of communicable diseases determines which diseases warrant public health resources and intervention. Public health surveillance data are useful but are affected by variable case ascertainment. Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) better define the population burden of diseases accounting for both morbidity and mortality. METHODS: Infectious disease notification practices in Victoria were examined using case notification data from 2013. Data for all nationally notifiable diseases were used to evaluate the first 21 years (1991–2011) of the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS) and the epidemiology of nationally notifiable diseases. The impact of socioeconomic disadvantage and remoteness of residence on notification incidence was examined nationally, while Indigenous status was examined in three jurisdictions with completeness of Indigenous status reporting >75% (the Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia). Disease burden was estimated and compared for six common gastrointestinal pathogens (campylobacteriosis, salmonellosis, cryptosporidiosis, giardiasis, rotavirus, and norovirus) in Australia in 2010 using: number of cases, number of deaths, and DALYs. Post-infectious sequelae were incorporated into DALY estimates for campylobacteriosis and salmonellosis. RESULTS: Almost half (49%) the cases notified in Victoria in 2013 were notified by laboratory report alone. Indigenous status was complete for 48% of notified cases, with higher completion of Indigenous status among doctor-notified cases, diseases with active case follow-up, and priority diseases for Indigenous status reporting. Nationally, the number of notifiable conditions increased from 37 to 65 from 1991 to 2011, with 2.4 million cases notified to NNDSS. An increasing proportion of cases were diagnosed by PCR, while data completeness and notification timeliness improved. The 10 highest notification incidence conditions (chlamydial infection, campylobacteriosis, varicella zoster, hepatitis C, influenza, pertussis, salmonellosis, hepatitis B, gonococcal infection, and Ross River virus infection) comprised 88% of all notifications. Annual notification incidence increased 6·4% per year (12% for sexually transmissible infections and 15% for vaccine preventable diseases). Notification incidence was higher for Indigenous, remote-living and socioeconomically disadvantaged Australians; overall, these inequities lessened over the study period. An estimated 16.6 million acute gastroenteritis (AGE) cases occurred in Australia in 2010 (including undiagnosed community cases), with the most AGE cases attributed to norovirus (2,180,145), most deaths to salmonellosis (90), and most DALYs to campylobacteriosis (18,222). Inclusion of irritable bowel syndrome increased the DALY estimate for campylobacteriosis more than four-fold. CONCLUSIONS: The NNDSS expanded over its first 21 years including a greater number of notifiable conditions and notifications received. Changing testing practices and laboratory-only notifications have impacted notification practices. A nationally integrated electronic surveillance system, including electronic laboratory reporting, would further improve infectious diseases surveillance in Australia. Inadequate completeness of Indigenous status needs urgent attention, as does reducing the identified health inequities. The choice of burden of disease metric influenced the ranking of pathogens. Data on post-infectious sequelae is lacking for many gastrointestinal pathogens and their inclusion can profoundly influence DALY estimates. Routinely collected surveillance data and more detailed DALY estimates can both be used to prioritise diseases and populations for public health action and to assess the effectiveness of these interventions.


This paper links the foreign economic engagement of India's states with the literature on federalism, thereby contributing to an understanding of the political economy of FDI inflows in a parliamentary federal system. More specifically, it studies subnational governments' international engagements to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) and investigates whether the political affiliations of states' chief ministers and parliamentarians determine the spatial distribution of FDI across the Indian states, correcting for the influence of per capita income, population density, urbanisation, infrastructure, policy regime, and human development. Although the central government plays no direct role in determining the state to which FDI goes, the centre-state relations in a federal structure play a role in creating perceptions about the relative political risk involved in different investment destinations. Employing multiple linear regressions to analyse time-series (2000-2013) cross-sectional (12 states) data using the panel procedure, the study finds that affiliated states attract relatively more FDI per capita in comparison to states ruled by opposition parties or coalition partners. However, some exceptions do result, primarily due to two phenomena: first, the presence of a strong state leadership and, second, the presence of a significant share of members of parliament belonging to the prime minister's party in the non-affiliated states. Further, states ruled by outside supporters have been most successful in attracting FDI inflows during the coalition period.


Since the Asian financial crisis of 1998, regional scholars and diplomats have maintained that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) represents an evolving economic and security community. In addition, many contend that what is known as the ASEAN process not only has transformed Southeast Asia's international relations, but has started to build a shared East Asian regional identity. ASEAN's deeper integration into a security, economic, and political community, as well as its extension into the ASEAN Plus Three processes that were begun after the 1997 financial crisis, offers a test case of the dominant assumptions in both ASEAN scholarship and liberal and idealist accounts of international relations theory. Three case studies of ASEAN operating as an economic and security community demonstrate, however, that the norms and practices that ASEAN promotes, rather than creating an integrated community, can only sustain a pattern of limited intergovernmental and bureaucratically rigid interaction.


We propose a new scheme for content distribution of large files that is based on network coding. With network coding, each node of the distribution network is able to generate and transmit encoded blocks of information. The randomization introduced by the coding process eases the scheduling of block propagation, and, thus, makes the distribution more efficient. This is particularly important in large unstructured overlay networks, where the nodes need to make block forwarding decisions based on local information only. We compare network coding to other schemes that transmit unencoded information (i.e. blocks of the original file) and, also, to schemes in which only the source is allowed to generate and transmit encoded packets. We study the performance of network coding in heterogeneous networks with dynamic node arrival and departure patterns, clustered topologies, and when incentive mechanisms to discourage free-riding are in place. We demonstrate through simulations of scenarios of practical interest that the expected file download time improves by more than 20-30% with network coding compared to coding at the server only and, by more than 2-3 times compared to sending unencoded information. Moreover, we show that network coding improves the robustness of the system and is able to smoothly handle extreme situations where the server and nodes leave the system.


Objective. We assessed the efficacy of maternal anthropometric measurements and clinical estimates of fetal weight in isolation and in combination as predictors of cephalopelvic disproportion (CPD). Design. Prospective cohort study. Setting. Tertiary care teaching hospital, two affiliated hospitals with facilities for conducting cesarean delivery and seven affiliated primary care facilities with no operation theaters. Sample. Primigravidae over 37 weeks' gestation attending these facilities during a 20‐month period with a singleton pregnancy in vertex presentation. Methods. Several anthropometric measurements were taken in 249 primigravidae. Fetal weight was estimated. Differences in these measurements between the vaginal delivery and CPD groups were analyzed. The validity of these measurements in predicting CPD was analyzed by plotting receiver operating characteristic curves and by logistic regression analysis. Main outcome measure. Mode of delivery. Results. Maternal height, foot size, inter‐trochanteric diameter and bis‐acromial diameter showed the highest positive predictive values for CPD. Combining some maternal measurements with estimates of fetal weight increased predictive values modestly, which are likely to be greater if the estimates of fetal weight are close to the actual birth weight. Based on multivariate analysis the risk factors for CPD in our population were foot length ≤23cm, inter‐trochanteric diameter ≤30cm and estimated fetal weight ≥3 000g. Conclusions. Maternal anthropometric measurements can predict CPD to some extent. Combining maternal measurements with clinical estimates of fetal weight only enhances the predictive value to a relatively modest degree (positive predictive value 24%).


Educational endowments, private employer-sponsored pension plans, and other tax-exempt organizations (collectively, "tax-exempt entities") invest a substantial amount of capital in various sectors of the economy, and tax consequences can determine whether or not a tax-exempt entity, like any other entity, makes a potential investment. Consequently, the tax treatment of investment income earned by tax-exempt entities can affect significantly the manner in which capital is allocated on an economy-wide basis. The current tax system applies different effective rates of tax to income earned by tax-exempt entities from otherwise comparable investments. This inconsistent tax treatment distorts investment decisions made by such entities which, given the amount of capital invested by such entities, can result in a less than optimal allocation of capital. In some contexts, the distortion can be mitigated by tax structuring. However, if Congress were to enact legislation currently proposed as part of the Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act, the ability to engage in this tax structuring would be eliminated. Thus, enactment of the proposed legislation would exacerbate the current distortions without providing any offsetting benefits. In lieu of reforms suggested by Congress, this paper proposes reforms to the manner in which tax-exempt entities are taxed on their investment income. In particular, this paper proposes that a tax-exempt investor would generally not be subject to tax on income earned from an entity whose business decisions are not controlled by the tax-exempt investor. The proposed reforms would result in a better allocation of capital among various investment opportunities. The reforms would not subvert any of the other goals of taxing income earned by tax-exempt entities. Finally, the reforms would modernize the tax rules in a way that takes into account changes to investment portfolios held by tax-exempt entities that have occurred since the rules were enacted.


The minimum ignition energy (MIE) of dust clouds is required to assess the electrostatic ignition risk. Recently, the growing number of accidents shows that fire and explosions occurring in fireworks industry are due to electrostatic discharge (ESD). The objective of the this paper is to discuss the various practical concerns during the handling of flash powders of various compositions containing potassium nitrate, sulfur, and aluminum in fireworks. These powders form dust clouds and cause fires and explosions because the MIEs of these dust clouds are very low. This study is carried out with powders of various sizes ranging from micron and nanometer. The measurements are done by using a 1.2‐L Hartmann apparatus. The experimental results show that the MIEs for flash powders are in the range from 89.2 to 19.8 mJ for micron‐ and nano‐sized particles. The experimental results are given for various changes, such as: electrode gap, electrode material, and dust concentration, dust composition, etc. If the nano flash powder is mixed with micron powders, the MIE is greatly reduced, and it becomes extremely combustible. Therefore, it is imperative for fireworks manufacturers, or anyone handling these dusts, to take precautionary measures to prevent fires and explosions involving ESDs. © 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Process Saf Prog, 2012


Targeted financial sanctions regimes and regulations on 'dirty money' put banks on the front line in securing financial circulation. This is the context in which banking actors face the challenge of juggling with hundred of sanction, watch and regulatory lists. In light of that list mania for banking policing, list appears to have become the security device of choice in the everyday life of the financial industry across the world. Instead of reducing the complexity of security-finance dynamics to a zero-sum game (securitization of finance vs financialization of security), the article rather aims to question the critical role of lists in the cross-colonization of finance and security. Drawing on empirical research in the United Kingdom and India, the article adopts an 'analytics of devices' to think of and analyse banking policing practices through the instrumentation that makes these practices possible and stable over time. It argues that banking appropriation of security lists both (re)configures lists 'social identity' and banking actors' power-relations in the fields of finance and security. Ultimately, the analytical focus on lists appropriation sheds new light on what securing circulation means in finance.


A thorough quantitative and qualitative analysis of the economic impact of payroll and expenditures at the Otis ANG Base was conducted. The analysis incorporated full payroll, contracting, and other expenditure data from the 102nd Fighter Wing. The Donahue Institute interviewed staff from the 102nd Fighter Wing of the Otis ANG, U.S. Coast Guard, Massachusetts Army National Guard, as well as representatives and officials from the adjacent communities and the fishing industry and utilized IMPLAN, an industry standard econometric modeling system for specifying indirect and induced economic impacts.


Genetic variants in the gene encoding integrin alpha2 (ITGA2) have been reported to be associated with an increased risk for ischemic stroke. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between haplotype-tagging single-nucleotide polymorphisms (tSNPs) in ITGA2 and risk of ischemic stroke in a collection of North American stroke cases and controls. The study included 484 cases and 263 controls. Thirteen tSNPs were genotyped. Association tests at and across each tSNP were performed, including haplotype association analysis. Secondary analyses considered stroke subtypes on the basis of Trial of Org 10172 in Acute Stroke Treatment (TOAST) criteria. We observed significant association between tSNP rs3756541 (additive model, odds ratio (OR), 1.49; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.11 to 2.04; P=0.009) and disease and a trend toward association at rs2303124 (recessive model, OR, 1.56; 95% CI, 1.05 to 2.33; P=0.03). These associations remained significant in the haplotype analyses. The associated tSNPs did not distinguish stroke etiology after application of TOAST criteria. Our results suggest that genetic variability within ITGA2 may confer risk for ischemic stroke independent of conventional risk factors. These results provide additional support for a role for platelet receptor genes in the pathogenesis of ischemic stroke of diverse subtypes.


It has been well recognized that neural network based image classifiers are easily fooled by images with tiny perturbations crafted by an adversary. There has been a vast volume of research to generate and defend such adversarial attacks. However, the following problem is left unexplored: How to reverse-engineer adversarial perturbations from an adversarial image? This leads to a new adversarial learning paradigm--Reverse Engineering of Deceptions (RED). If successful, RED allows us to estimate adversarial perturbations and recover the original images. However, carefully crafted, tiny adversarial perturbations are difficult to recover by optimizing a unilateral RED objective. For example, the pure image denoising method may overfit to minimizing the reconstruction error but hardly preserve the classification properties of the true adversarial perturbations. To tackle this challenge, we formalize the RED problem and identify a set of principles crucial to the RED approach design. Particularly, we find that prediction alignment and proper data augmentation (in terms of spatial transformations) are two criteria to achieve a generalizable RED approach. By integrating these RED principles with image denoising, we propose a new Class-Discriminative Denoising based RED framework, termed CDD-RED. Extensive experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of CDD-RED under different evaluation metrics (ranging from the pixel-level, prediction-level to the attribution-level alignment) and a variety of attack generation methods (e.g., FGSM, PGD, CW, AutoAttack, and adaptive attacks).


As part of its Big Society agenda, the current Government is keen to encourage a higher level of donations of money to charitable causes. It has highlighted new technologies, new social norms and tax incentives as potential mechanisms for raising giving. This article brings together recent evidence to assess the prospects for achieving the desired "step change in giving".


The Mount Ayliff Complex of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa is a layered intrusion of some 800 km2 surface area and up to 1,200 m thickness. On the basis of compositional similarities and spatial association, it is generally interpreted to form part of the Karoo igneous province. Similarities between the Mount Ayliff Complex and the staging chambers and feeder conduits to flood basalts that host magmatic sulfide ores elsewhere in the world suggest that the Mount Ayliff Complex may have an enhanced potential for Noril'sk-Talnakh–type massive Ni-Cu sulfide ores, an idea that is supported by the well-known sulfide occurrence at Waterfall Gorge. Here, we present major-, trace-, and noble-element data for 30 samples of cumulate rocks from a continuous 1,200 m drill core through the Insizwa lobe of the complex, as well as six samples of a footwall sill, the Taylor's Koppie dike, that was considered a possible feeder zone to the lobe, and through a massive sulfide lens in the footwall of the lobe at Ndzongiseni. We show that most of the Insizwa cumulate rocks contain small amounts of cumulus sulfides. The sulfides, including those at Waterfall Gorge, can be explained by a model in which the sulfides were segregated from magma having chilled-margin composition. On the basis of the composition of the chilled margins, the Insizwa magma contained no entrained sulfides and was depleted in platinum group elements (PGE), although not in Cu and Ni, before emplacement. These compositional characteristics are also observed in lavas of the central Karoo igneous province and suggest only limited sulfide segregation from these magmas at depth. Our findings thus indicate relatively little potential for economic magmatic Ni-Cu-PGE sulfide deposits in the Insizwa lobe.


Significance The genus Moorea has yielded more than 40% of all reported marine cyanobacterial natural products. Preliminary genomic data suggest that many more natural products are yet to be discovered. However, incomplete genomic information has hampered the discovery of novel compounds using genome-mining approaches. Here, we report a complete genome of a filamentous marine tropical cyanobacterium, Moorea producens PAL, along with the improvement of other three Moorea draft genomes. Our analyses revealed a vast and distinctive natural product metabolic potential in these strains, highlighting that they are still an excellent source of unique metabolites despite previous extensive studies. Cyanobacteria are major sources of oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon in nature. In addition to the importance of their primary metabolism, some cyanobacteria are prolific producers of unique and bioactive secondary metabolites. Chemical investigations of the cyanobacterial genus Moorea have resulted in the isolation of over 190 compounds in the last two decades. However, preliminary genomic analysis has suggested that genome-guided approaches can enable the discovery of novel compounds from even well-studied Moorea strains, highlighting the importance of obtaining complete genomes. We report a complete genome of a filamentous tropical marine cyanobacterium, Moorea producens PAL, which reveals that about one-fifth of its genome is devoted to production of secondary metabolites, an impressive four times the cyanobacterial average. Moreover, possession of the complete PAL genome has allowed improvement to the assembly of three other Moorea draft genomes. Comparative genomics revealed that they are remarkably similar to one another, despite their differences in geography, morphology, and secondary metabolite profiles. Gene cluster networking highlights that this genus is distinctive among cyanobacteria, not only in the number of secondary metabolite pathways but also in the content of many pathways, which are potentially distinct from all other bacterial gene clusters to date. These findings portend that future genome-guided secondary metabolite discovery and isolation efforts should be highly productive.


John Sutton is National Secretary of the Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union (CFMEU). The following opinion piece is a revised version of his address to the Catalyst Seminar held in Sydney, 6 May 2008, by Catalyst Australia, a new labour movement think-tank. Here he presents evidence showing that the current (allegedly skilled) temporary migration scheme under the 457 visa is often abused and voices serous concerns about extending temporary labour migration to workers openly acknowledged to be low skilled. His address was delivered before the Rudd Government announced its record increase in the permanent migration program and before it floated the idea of importing unskilled guest workers from the Asia/Pacific region.


Author(s): Lum, Jessica Ann | Abstract: Title: Slab City StoriesAuthor: Jessica Lum "Slab City Stories" is a multimedia visual journalism project documenting the people and residents of Slab City, a squatter community in southern California. The project can be viewed online at http://slabcitystories.com Slab City, located about two miles east of Niland, California, is home to a few dozen during blistering summers, but draws thousands during the temperate winter season. These migrating snowbirds seek the sun and warmth of the California desert, as well as the alternative lifestyle that flourishes here. Slab City is named for the remains of concrete foundations that dot the area, once part of the military naval reservation, Camp Dunlap. The site was decommissioned in 1956 and deeded to the state of California in 1961. Residents of "The Slabs," as it is called, are squatters living in trailers and recreational vehicles in various stages of upkeep: broken-down or brand new "land yachts" worth several hundred thousands. Many people also build their own structures, tents and shacks. Most subsist off of food stamps or social security benefits: usually for retirement or disability. Some support themselves through barter, trade and odd jobs from other Slabbers, or Slab City residents. Slab City is a vibrant community, home to artists and musicians who create and display their work in places like East Jesus' art garden or Builder Bill's stage, The Range, which hosts a weekly open mic show every Saturday night. Residents join social clubs like the Oasis Club or Loners on Wheels where they meet for morning coffee, meals and happy hours. Others prefer to live on the edge of it all, because even in the desert, quiet can be hard to find.


The March 11, 2011 tragedy at the Fukushima Daiichi power station in Japan immediately etched its place in history as arguably the most noteworthy of the three nuclear energy disasters to date. This Article surveys the response to Fukushima both in Japan and worldwide. It observes that rather than stopping what many thought was a burgeoning "nuclear renaissance," the global policy reaction post-Fukushima was more varied. Using the examples of Germany, the United States, and China, the Article examines the three general approaches to nuclear energy that nations have followed since Fukushima: abandonment, status quo, and expansion. The Article then uses these different responses to highlight core tensions in energy policy, namely, between markets and planning, between resilience and path dependence, and in values. The Article concludes by summarizing Fukushima's likely impact on nuclear power going forward, noting the inherent complexity in energy and energy law and policy systems.


From the time Buddhism entered the mythical land of the snows, Tibetans have expressed their spiritual devotion and celebrated their culture with dance. Only since the diaspora of the Tibetan people have outsiders witnessed these performances and when they do, no one explains why these dances exist and what they really mean. Ellen Pearlman, who studied with Lobsang Samten, the ritual dance master of the Dalai Lama's Namgyal monastery in India, set out to discover the meaning behind these practices. She found the story of the indigenous shamanistic Bon religion being superseded by Buddhism - a story full of dangerous and illicit liaisons, brilliant visions, secret teachings, betrayals, and unrevealed yogic practices. Pearlman examines the four lineages that developed sacred cham - the secret ritual dances of Tibet's Buddhist monks - and achi lhamo storytelling folk dance and opera. She describes the mental and physical process of preparing for these dances, the meaning of the iconography of the costumes and masks, the spectrum of accompanying music, and the actual dance steps as recorded in a choreography book dating back to the Fifth Dalai Lama in 1647. Beautiful colour photographs from the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts and Pearlman's own images of touring monastic troupes complement the rare historic black-and-white photos from the collections of Sir Charles Bell, chief of the British Mission in Tibet during the life of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama. - Lavishly illustrated with colour and rare historic photographs depicting the dances, costumes, and masks. - Looks at both sacred (cham) and folk (achi lhamo) forms and their role in the development, practice, and culture of Tibetan Buddhism.


control architecture for an intelligent, fully autonomous mobile robot is based on the philosophical view of combining reflexive behaviors and cognitive modules into situated agents in a complementary fashion, supported by a knowledge- based perceptual system. Behavior, cognitive, and perceptual subsystems make up the agent's intelligence architecture. Each of these three principal components decompose into layered, independent, parallel, distributed functions. The behavior based component of the system provides the basic instinctive competences for the robot while the cognitive part manipulates perceptual knowledge representations and a reasoning mechanism which performs higher machine intelligence functions such as planning. Cognitive control directly affects behavior through motivation inputs to behavior functions and through output behavior arbitration. A cognitive planning activity can execute plans merely by setting the motivation state of the robot and letting the behavior-based subsystem worry about the details of plan execution. The perceptual system offers a general framework for sensory knowledge generation, abstraction, and integration. All information in the perception knowledge bases derives from the fusing of real-time sensor data in a model-driven, multi- sensor system. This approach provides a current, consensual, and consistent interpretation of the environment observed by the agent. The perceptual module effects behavior through virtual sensor inputs supplied to behavior algorithms. The cognitive and perceptual modules can be influenced by behavior status inputs. With this control architecture the agent gains the real-time performance of a behavior-based system without losing the effectiveness of a general purpose world model and planner. World models based on the robot's own sense perception appear to be essential


File List
 GELAM.m (MD5: 0b7829a3095eef051873e580609de32b)
 Location2West.txt (MD5: 4ddcd8b65a095ace631d05ca597d125c)
 Description
 The MATLAB (version R2010a, MathWorks) script GELAM.m runs a simulation model to estimate acute mortality of golden eagles due to ingesting lead from gut-piles of harvested big game animals and to assess possible mitigation strategies: non-lead ammunition and gut-pile retrieval. GELAM.m runs the simulation both at the state level, and for the Casper example.
 Location2West.txt contains the data we used in the MATLAB simulations, with the following columns: (1) ID number (FID), (2) number of animals harvested, (3) golden eagle abundance in hunting unit, and (4) size of hunting unit in 100 km² blocks. Information was compiled from publicly available data for Wyoming's 2012 big game harvest (Wyoming Game and Fish Department 2013, public communication: 2012 annual report of big and trophy game harvest. http://wgfd.wyo.gov/web2011/Departments/Wildlife/pdfs/HR2012_FULLREPORT0005408.pdf accessed 13 May 2014 ) and preliminary, unpublished estimates of late summer Golden Eagle abundance provided by Ryan Nielson ( personal communication , Western EcoSystems Technology, Inc., Cheyenne, WY, February 2014 ).
 The eagle density data are from ongoing work that may be revised, using methods reported in two publications: Nielson, R. M. and H. Sawyer. 2013. Estimating resource selection with count data. Ecology and Evolution 3:2233–2240.
 Neilson, R., L. McManus, T. Rintz, L. L. McDonald, R. K. Murphy, W. H. Howe, and R. E. Good. 2014. Monitoring abundance of golden eagles in the Western United States. Journal of Wildlife Management 78:721–730.


This paper reexamines the literature on the impact of migration on household members left behind at origin. The empirical problem previous studies address is the self-selection of households into migration, i.e. the endogenous decision as to whether or not send a migrant. Yet, the subsequent selection of which family members migrate and which stay behind generates additional identification problems that have remained largely ignored. To tackle this second form of selectivity within the households, I model the behavior of families using latent stratification and potential outcome (Imbens and Angrist, 1994; Rubin, 1974). I show that the point-identification of the causal impact of migration requires strong behavioral assumptions rarely satisfied even with ideal experimental data. As a practical solution, I derive non parametric bounds under different sets of weaker assumptions. Using Mexican panel data, I show that standard estimates ignoring the intra-household selection into migration may suffer from substantial bias.


Pak et al. report that the COOH-terminal (Ser-X-Val or Leu) SkV motif of the β1-adrenergic receptor (β1-AR) interacts with the cyclic nucleotide Ras guanine nucleotide exchange factor (CN-RasGEF) to stimulate Ras and to cause activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade. The receptor and GEF colocalize in transfected cells and cells in which the two proteins are endogenously coexpressed, They can also be coprecipitated and interact in glutathione S-transferase pull-down experiments. Futhermore, disruption of their interaction through expression of β1-ARs with mutations in the SkV motif block activation of Ras. Activation of Ras by the β1-AR requires the cyclic nucleotide-binding domain and the CDC25 domain of the CN-RasGEF and requires the activity of the Gαs subunit of the heterotrimeric G protein, but not the activity of the Gβγ subunits. Thus, it appears that the β1-AR recruits the CN-RasGEF to the membrane where the Gαs stimulates local production of cAMP, allowing the CN-RasGEF to be activated and stimulate Ras. Y. Pak, N. Pham, D. Rotin, Direct binding of the β1adrenergic receptor to the cyclic AMP-dependent guanine nucleotide exchange factor CNrasGEF leads to Ras activation. Mol. Cell. Biol. 22, 7942-7952 (2002). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Social Security benefits depend on the employment and earnings history of the covered worker, but, especially for women, they depend on one's marital history and the employment and earnings history of one's spouse. This paper examines the interrelationship between marriage, divorce, employment and earnings of men and women. Since getting married (or getting divorced) tends to affect women's employment choices differently than men's, we consider the sexes separately. We estimate: (1) the impact of earnings, work hours and wages while unmarried on the likelihood of (re)marriage, (2) the effect of these measures of career success while married on the likelihood of divorce; (3) the effect of being married on men's and women's propensity to participate in the labor force, and conditional on participation, the effect of being married on earnings, wages and annual hours of work; for all these labor market outcomes we also assess the impact of the length of the marriage. Together, these results show a pattern of gender specialization in marriage, with men moving toward and women moving away from more intensive and extensive employment and the financial gain it brings. Success in the labor market while single increases the likelihood of marriage for men and decreases it for women. More work and greater financial rewards from work tend to stabilize marriage for men and destabilize marriage for women. Our results also show substantial change in the relationship between marital and employment careers for those born after WWII, but only for women. The employment careers of younger women are much less responsive to marriage than were those of their mothers or older sisters.


We construct a 2 sector growth model with sector specific technology shocks where one sector produces intermediate goods while the other produces final goods. Theoretical restrictions from this model are used to compute the time series for sector-specific TFPs based solely on factor prices and the relative price of intermediate goods to final goods over the 1959-2000 period. An aggregate TFP measure based on these series appears quite similar to the multifactor productivity measure constructed by the BLS. We find statistical evidence of structural breaks in the growth rate of our productivity measures in 1973 and 1995. The first of these breaks appears to be due to an economy-wide productivity slowdown, while the second is attributed to a sharp pickup in the growth rate of productivity in the intermediate goods sector. Using only these TFP measures, the model's predictions of output growth rates in the two sectors over the intervals defined by the estimated break dates compare favorably with the actual data on consumer nondurables and services (final goods) and consumer and producer durables (intermediate goods).


In this paper, we report, for the first time, on the effects of two counterpropagating laser beams in a passive ring resonator to be used as a key element of an integrated optical angular velocity sensor, in order to optimize the design of the whole sensor. The ring resonator is modeled and the analytical expressions of the power transfer function for both drop- and through-port configurations are derived. At both drop and through ports, the two counterpropagating beams provide an increase of the amplitude of the transfer function, while at the through port, we observed also a mode suppression due to a physical effect similar to the Vernier effect. A parametric analysis has been carried out to optimize the sensor design. A minimum angular velocity as low as a few degrees per hour has been achieved, which is suitable for aerospace applications.


In the everyday practice of online communication, we observe users deliberately reporting abusive content or opposing hate speech through counterspeech, while at the same time, online platforms are increasingly relying on and supporting this kind of user action to fight disruptive online behavior. We refer to this type of user engagement as online civic intervention (OCI) and regard it as a new form of user-based political participation in the digital sphere that contributes to an accessible and reasoned public discourse. Because OCI has received little scholarly attention thus far, this article conceptualizes low- and high-threshold types of OCI as different kinds of user responses to common disruptive online behavior such as hate speech or hostility toward the media. Against the background of participation research, we propose a theoretically grounded individual-level model that serves to explain OCI.


Undergraduate students should not just study political theory. They should theorize. Writing-intensive political theory courses can help them do so sooner. By preparing an original political vision, a utopia or a dystopia, throughout the course of the semester, students read and compare the texts of the course against their own emerging texts and move into more critical and systematic political analysis. As a political theorist, my focus is not so much on utopias or dystopias as a subject of study per se, but on tapping into the creative freedom, critical distance, and hard-hitting insights of these traditions while teaching writing. I take seriously Berlin's above-stated concern for the "place and mode of operation" conveyed to the student through the process of learning to write. Visionary writing accelerates students' appreciation of the complexity of another's theory, but also of their own standpoint and capacity for agency and judgment.Khristina Haddad is assistant professor, department of political science, Moravian College. She teaches a writing-intensive course on visionary political writing and is affiliated with German Studies and Women's Studies. Her research interests include politics of time and temporality, Hannah Arendt, political action, fear, feminist theory, women's studies, and, in particular, the politics of women's health.I am greatly indebted to friends and colleagues who helped me along at various stages including (in alphabetical order) Robert Humanick, Eleanor Linn, Bob Mayer, Karla Morales, Laurie Naranch, Gary Olson, Miguelina Ortiz, Martha Reid, Joanna Vecchiarelli Scott, Lyman Tower Sargent, Joel Wingard, and Elizabeth Wingrove. Thanks go also to all those whose dedicated work inspires student writers and teachers of writing at the Gayle Morris Sweetland Writing Center at the University of Michigan, to helpful commentators at the Society for Utopian Studies' Annual Meeting in Toronto, to two anonymous reviewers at PS, and to three groups of students who shared their visions with me.


Abstract. We present a new post-processing methodology for the analysis of InSAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry) multi-temporal measures, based on the temporal under-sampling of displacement time series, the identification of potential changes occurring during the monitoring period and, eventually, the classification of different deformation behaviours. The potentials of this approach for the analysis of geological processes were tested on the case study of Naro (Italy), specifically selected due to its geological setting and related ground instability of unknown causes that occurred in February 2005. The time series analysis of past (ERS1/2 descending data; 1992–2000) and current (RADARSAT-1 ascending data; 2003–2007) ground movements highlighted significant displacement rates (up to 6 mm yr−1) in 2003–2007, followed by a post-event stabilization. The deformational behaviours of instable areas involved in the 2005 event were also detected, clarifying typology and kinematics of ground instability. The urban sectors affected and unaffected by the event were finally mapped, consequently re-defining and enlarging the influenced area previously detected by field observations. Through the integration of InSAR data and conventional field surveys (i.e. geological, geomorphologic and geostructural campaigns), the causes of instability were finally attributed to tectonics.


Background: Adherence to American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) and National Com- prehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines for venous thromboembolism (VTE) prophy- laxis helps avoid thromboembolic complications during hospitalization. Electronic health records (EHR) have the potential to make an impact on guideline adherence, but data are lacking. Objectives: To determine compliance with VTE prophylaxis guidelines in internal medicine and oncology populations and to determine whether EHR implementation had any effect on the rate and appropriateness of prophylaxis practices. Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted on medical and oncology patients admitted to the hospital for a 2-month period pre-EHR and post-EHR implementation. Risk assessment tools were available pre and post, however they were not mandatory. The rate of VTE prophylaxis was compared between the 2 time periods, with appropriateness assessed in a subgroup of partici- pants without prophylaxis. Results: A total of 2,423 patients on the oncology and internal medicine floors were identified during the pre-EHR (n = 1,171) and post-EHR (n = 1,252) time periods. Patients in the post-EHR group were less likely to be prescribed prophylaxis as compared to those in the pre-EHR group (43% vs 50%; P = .001). In the patients audited for proper prophylaxis use (n = 750), significantly more patients in the post-EHR group had risk factors (84% vs 53%; P < .001) and contrain- dications (23% vs 8%; P = .001) than in the pre-EHR group. Noncompliance to prophylaxis in patients who were candidates (positive risk factors without contraindications) occurred more often in the post-EHR group (51% vs 39%; P < .001). Conclusion: Implementation of an EHR was associated with an increase in the documentation of risk factors and contraindications; however, there was a significant decrease in VTE prophylaxis utilization after EHR implementation.


Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease, the most common cause of dementia in senile population. According to the World Health Organization, AD repre‐ sents around 12% of people over 65 worldwide. Due to its etiological agents, neurofibril‐ lary tangles (NFT) and amyloid plaques (AP), several attempts to explain the genesis and progression of AD have been proposed. Pathological variants of tau protein, are the main precursor for AD onset, with a molecular mechanism based on neuroinflammatory processes in the context of the neuroimmunomodulation theory. Microglial cells play preponderant roles in innate immunity and are the main source of proinflammatory fac‐ tors in the central nervous system (CNS), the links between microglia and neurons are the main focus on AD pathogenesis. Depending on these factors, either a neuroprotective or a proinflammatory effect could be triggered. In AD, a persistently active microglial condition generates neuronal damage and death, causing the release of pathological tau toward the extracellular environment. This causes the activation of microglia, promoting a feedback mechanism and generating a continuous cellular damage. After activation of microglia, generation of NF‐kB occurs, thus promoting the expression and release of pro‐ inflammatory cytokines. As a consequence, short‐lived cytotoxic factors, such as O2, NO and other reactive oxygen species, are released. In normal physiological conditions, tau's kinases play a role in regulating normal tau functions in neurons. Glycogen synthase kinase 3‐beta (GSK3β)‐mediated tau phosphorylation promotes N‐methyl‐D aspartate receptor (NMDAr)‐mediated long‐term depression. The increase of proinflammatory cytokines during AD by microglia leads to an increase in kinase expression and activity of cyclin‐dependent kinase 5 (Cdk‐5) and GSK3‐β. On the other hand, TNF‐α and IL‐8 increase expression and activity of Cdk5, whereas IL‐1β hyperactivates GSK3‐β, leading to tau hyperphosphorylation and impairing its normal function. Tau hyperphosphoryla‐ tion results in microtubule destabilization, impaired axonal transport, NMDAr‐mediated neurotoxicity, synaptic dysfunction and cell death. Finally, the previously summarized mechanisms could explain the onset and progression of AD, opening a new projection to © 2017 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. focus research on therapeutic agents that could modulate the interactions between tau and microglial cells. The neuroimmunomodulation mechanism has been the conceptual framework for the search of therapeutic approaches for AD and other neurodegenerative disorders.


The original idea of the thesis draws on interrelated assumptions: 1) among the tools used, in the markets for technology, for the acquisition of external knowledge, the licensing agreements are acknowledged as one of the most important contractual mechanisms; 2) the liabilities of newness and the liabilities of smallness force new venture to strongly rely on external knowledge sources. Albeit the relevance of this topic, little attention has been paid so far to its investigation, especially in the licensing context; 3) nowadays there is an increasing trend in licensing practices, but the literature on markets for technology focuses almost exclusively on the incentives and rationales that foster firms' decisions to trade their technologies, under-investigating the role of the acquiring firm, the licensee, overlooking the demand side of the market. Therefore, the thesis investigates the inward licensing phenomenon within the context of new ventures. The main questions that new venture licensee has to address if it decides to undertake an inward licensing strategy, can be summarized as follows:
1) Is convenient for a new venture to choose, as initial technology strategy, the implementation of an inward licensing ?
2) Does this decision affect its survival probabilities?
3) Does the age, at which a new venture becomes a licensee, affect its innovative capabilities? Is it better to undertake a licensing-in strategy soon after founding or to postpone this strategy until the new venture has accumulated significant resources?
The findings suggest that new ventures licensees survive less than their non-licensee counterparts; the survival rates are directly connected to the time taken by firms to reach the market;being engaged in licensing-in deals some years after its inception allows a new venture licensee to increase its subsequent capacity to produce innovations.


Te rich glasses in the ternary Ge-Te-Se system are stable against crystallization and remain transparent enough for application in the far infrared beyond 15 μm. Four protocoles of preparation of highly-purified Te-rich Ge-Te-Se glasses are developed and compared. These methods are based on different distillation procedures to remove water, oxides, hydrogen and carbon impurities from glasses. The final residual impurity content in glasses was determined by the IR spectroscopy and laser mass spectrometry. Then, unclad optical fibers were drawn from each synthetized glass. At room temperature, the minimum of attenuation is about 7 dB/m at 10.6 μm whatever the purification procedure, showing that the residual optical losses are intrinsic to the chemical nature of the glasses. On the other hand, at 77 K, the optical losses are lowered to 1 dB/m confirming that losses are mainly due to the high charge carrier concentration inherent to the semi-conducting behavior of these glasses. Finally, this low level of losses is rather a promising news in view of application in space where optical filtering devices working beyond 15 μm are needed.


Managing and restoring longleaf pine forests throughout the Southeast is a conservation priority. Prescribed fire is an integral part of these activities, as it is the primary means of controlling hardwood encroachment and maintaining native groundcover. Nest site and preflight brood groundroost site selection of eastern wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) has not been well studied in longleaf pine systems. Therefore, we determined habitat characteristics associated with wild turkey nests and ground-roosts in 2 longleaf pine forests in southwestern Georgia. We radio-tagged 45 female turkeys and evaluated habitat characteristics associated with 84 nests and 51 ground-roosts during the 2011–2013 nesting seasons. Nests were located farther from mature pine and mature pine-hardwood stands and closer to shrub/scrub habitats than expected. Nests were also negatively associated with percent canopy closure and positively associated with percent woody ground cover and vegetation height. Ground-roosts were closer to mature pine-hardwood stands and open water than were random sites. We suggest that management of longleaf pine forests should focus on maintaining open-canopied forests with adequate understory vegetation to serve as nesting and brood-rearing cover. Our findings suggest that frequent prescribed fire (≤ 2 years), when the management goal is to optimize restoration of longleaf ecosystems, is conducive to maintaining wild turkey populations.


Introduction As Vice President of US Sponsorships & Events at MasterCard International, Jeff Price has overseen the development of a wide ranging sponsorship portfolio that includes some of the biggest properties in world sport, including Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League, Major League Soccer and the PGA Golf Tour. His career at MasterCard was built on the back of appointments at NBA Properties, Gatorade, and Universal Sports America. In this interview with Editorial Board member Dr David Shani, Jeff shares his experiences on, among other things; lessons learned from good and bad investments, strategy formulation, integration of the sponsorship across the marketing mix, and ambush marketing. DS: The first question I would like to ask is a personal one. How did you get into sports marketing? JP: That's a funny story. I had graduated from Bates College with a history degree and talked to the Procter & Gambles and all the typical banks that would come to a liberal arts school in New England and try to recruit. But I always had a passion for sport and was trying to find some way to make a career out of the passion that I had. I didn't really have a network of anyone to talk to and had sent blind resumes out without any real success. So I ended up going to graduate school at the University of Massachusetts in the sports management programme. From there, I got an internship in NBA Properties at a time when David Stern was changing the way a league was marketing itself and reaching out to a network partner in NBC. Stern was basically building a vertical marketing machine. It was really a very interesting time to be there. I spent five years there and then made the jump to the client side. At Gatorade in Chicago we spent a lot of time focused on using sport as a key platform to market/authenticate the brand. That's how I got my start. I persevered for a few years to try and crack into what was a pretty narrow field at the time. DS: One thing that we struggle with at our conferences is how to define sports marketing? How do you define sports marketing? JP: Well, I think it is defined quite differently depending on where you sit. If you are a brand like MasterCard, you are not intrinsically involved in sport. Our interest in sports marketing is really for consumers who have a passion and affinity for a sport or for an event or for a property. For us, sports marketing is simply the vehicle through which we are reaching that consumer where they have a higher passion and care about something, more so than other things in their lives. Take Major League Baseball (MLB). For us, sports marketing through baseball is really using baseball as a platform to take our various marketing disciplines to touch the consumer in ways that advertising or promotion or the Internet or a relationship with our merchant is not going to necessarily impact them on a individual basis. When you can bring it together in an integrated platform like MLB, however, you have got a whole platform which is going to be more effective than just firing separately in different parts of marketing mix. DS: So basically, as I understand it, sport marketing is the use of sport to achieve a particular marketing objective. JP: It really is. For us it's finding the passion that consumers find for the New York Yankees or the Boston Red Sox or for the game in general, and reaching them in a way that emotionally connects to something that they care about. For us it may be creating a value proposition. I'm sure you have seen a number of our "Priceless" commercials themed around sponsorships. We are able to reinforce our brand positioning that MasterCard is "The Best Way To Pay For Everything That Matters" on a number of different levels. Promotionally we can connect to the father/son going to that baseball game in our advertising. In our promotion, we can give fans the opportunity to go to the World Series and have a priceless moment sitting with retired baseball legends Hank Aaron and Willie Mays. …


This paper develops a model of the relationship between investment decisions by firms and the efficiency of the market prices of their securities. It is shown that more efficient security prices can lead to more efficient investment decisions. This provides firms with the incentive to increase price efficiency by voluntarily disclosing information about the firm. Disclosure decisions are studied. It is shown that firms may expend more resources on disclosure than is socially optimal. This is in contrast to the concern implicit in mandatory disclosure rules that firms will expend too few resources on disclosure.


Interviews with Barbara Voss and Lovell Friedman. Voss was book-keeper and child arts educator (full-time) at the Community Arts Project (late 1980s- circa 1997) and Friedman taught child art part-time (mid-late 1980s). The interviews were conducted by Heidi Bolton and commissioned by Mario Pissarra for Community Arts Project 'Histories of CAP' project.


We construct the first fully secure attribute based encryption (ABE) scheme that can handle access control policies expressible as polynomial-size circuits. Previous ABE schemes for general circuits were proved secure only in an unrealistic selective security model, where the adversary is forced to specify its target before seeing the public parameters, and full security could be obtained only by complexity leveraging, where the reduction succeeds only if correctly guesses the adversary's target string x∗, incurring a 2|x ∗| loss factor in the tightness of the reduction. At a very high level, our basic ABE scheme is reminiscent of Yao's garbled circuits, with 4 gadgets per gate of the circuit, but where the decrypter in our scheme puts together the appropriate subset of gate gadgets like puzzle pieces by using a cryptographic multilinear map to multiply the pieces together. We use a novel twist of Waters' dual encryption methodology to prove the full security of our scheme. Most importantly, we show how to preserve the delicate information-theoretic argument at the heart of Waters' dual system by enfolding it in an information-theoretic argument similar to that used in Yao's garbled circuits.


In lieu of an abstract, below is the essay's first paragraph. "Looking at these two passages from the New Testament, one wonders how—if at all—they can be reconciled. In Paul's letter to Timothy, we read that God "desires everyone to be saved," whereas in the Gospel of Matthew we hear the words of Jesus Himself condemning "those at his left" to eternal suffering in Hell. These passages are only a selection of readings from the New Testament which describe the contrasting destinies of humankind; they pose the question as to whether "all," will be saved, or only "some." This is indeed a problem; one which countless Christians have articulated—and attempted to solve—throughout Christianity's history. In far more recent years, Swiss theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar has surveyed much of the intellectual history of the Church and has suggested that the judgment of whether "some" or "all" are saved is entirely beyond the reach of theological inquiry. Balthasar argues convincingly that— standing forever under God's judgment—we have no ability to predict, with certainty, the ultimate outcome of God's saving act in Jesus Christ. However, Balthasar contends that all Christians have a duty to hope for the salvation of all humankind , in the absence of such certain knowledge. In order to defend Balthasar's conviction, I will first attempt to articulate the views of the two main opposing schools of thought: those who believe that all will be saved (whom I have dubbed the Universalists ) and those who believe that only some will be saved (whom Balthasar named the Infernalists ). I will then briefly encapsulate Balthasar's own Christology and Soteriology in order to illustrate how Balthasar reaches his own via media between these schools. Finally, I will argue that Balthasar's own take on the "some or all" question avoids many of the pitfalls of the other two positions, and ought to find a welcoming home in contemporary Christian thought."


Evaluation of soft output decoding for turbo codes is presented. Coding theory related to this research is studied, including convolutional encoding and Viterbi decoding. Recursive systematic convolutional (RSC) codes and nonuniform interleavers commonly used in turbo code encoder design are analyzed. Fundamentals such as reliability estimation, log-likelihood algebra, and soft channel outputs for soft output Viterbi algorithm (SOVA) turbo code decoding are examined. The modified Viterbi metric that incorporates a-priori information used for SOVA decoding is derived. A low memory implementation of the SOVA decoder is shown. The iterative SOVA turbo code decoding algorithm is described with illustrative examples. The performance of turbo codes are evaluated through computer simulation. It has been found that the SOVA turbo code decoding algorithm, as described in the literature, did not perform as well as the published results. Modifications to the decoding algorithm are suggested. The simulated turbo code performance results shown after these modifications more closely match with current published research work.


This paper gives prominence to rural children's accounts of their journey to school. Twelve children (male = 6; female = 6) from three different rural villages in Lesotho participated in the study. Individual and focus group interviews were used to generate data, and these were preceded by three participatory research techniques: family drawings, route mapping and diamond ranking, to engage children in dialogue and discussion. The study provided insights into the implications of family dynamics on children's school journey and the meaning of the school journey to the children. It illuminated how children actively define and re-define the varied places, power-laden spaces and social relations embedded in the journey. The study also highlighted how children's agency is expressed in their negotiation of the school journey, and represented rural children as heterogeneous with the capacity to navigate their localities in complex and autonomous ways.


In most vehicle routing problems, a given set of customers is to be partitioned into a collection of regions each of which is assigned to a single vehicle starting at a depot and returning there after visiting all of the region's customers exactly once in a route. In this paper we consider problem settings where the cost of a route may depend on its length O as well as m, the number of points on the route, according to some general function f(O, m), assumed to be nondecreasing and concave in &. We describe a class of O(N log N) or O(N2) heuristics and show under mild probabilistic assumptions that the solutions generated are asymptotically optimal. We also show that lower and upper bounds on the system-wide costs may be computed (with even simpler procedures) and that these bounds are asymptotically tight under the same assumptions.


Emerging smart utility networks (SUNs) provide two-way communications between smart meters and smart appliances to achieve low power usage, low cost, and high reliability. Because SUNs are composed of dense wireless devices, signal interference between the devices is an inevitable problem. This paper presents a precoder design that can reduce the effects of interference without consuming network resources, such as bandwidth and power. Unlike conventional methods, the proposed scheme can suppress the interference effect without the need for additional information to manage interference, which might cause additional resource consumption in the network. To verify the interference mitigation performance of the proposed scheme, the analytical error-rate expressions were derived as a closed form. The analysis and numerical results showed that the proposed scheme excellently mitigates the interference in asynchronous interference environments.


Cite this article: Saeed H, Nawaz H, Shad MA, Shahwar DE, Andaleeb H, Muzaffar S, et al. Antioxidant Potential of Cell Wall Polysaccharides Extracted from Various Parts of Aerva javanica. Free Radicals and Antioxidants. 2019;9(1):35-42. ABSTRACT Objectives: Aerva javanica, an underutilized desert plant, is a rich source of polysaccharide but not investigated properly for the antioxidant potential of its polysaccharides. The antioxidant potential of cell wall polysaccharides in leaves, branches, stem and root of A. javanica was determined. Methods: In a sequential extraction procedure, the water-soluble fraction (WSF), sodium acetate-EDTA soluble fraction (SASF), sodium carbonate soluble fraction (SCSF), 4% potassium hydroxide soluble fraction (4%KOHSF) and 14% potassium hydroxide soluble fraction (14%KOHSF) were obtained and subjected to antioxidant analysis. Results: The addition of salt or alkali in the extraction media resulted in a significant increase in total extractable polysaccharide content. The 14%KOHSF showed higher extract yield, total antioxidant activity, ferrous ion chelating activity, ferric reducing antioxidant power and linoleic acid reduction capacity. The WSF showed higher scavenging capacity against DPPH radical. WSF of branches and root and SCSF of leaf and stem showed highest scavenging capacity against hydroxyl radical. Conclusion: The lower extraction yield but high radical scavenging capacity of WSF may be attributed to the presence of some protein linked hydrophilic polysaccharides of pectin nature. The high extractable polysaccharide content with strong antioxidant potential makes A. javanica a suitable candidate for the antioxidant polysaccharide based pharmaceutical and industrial applications.


Abstract In 1992 the entrance channel through the tidal inlet to Tauranga Harbour, which is located along the Bay of Plenty littoral drift system, was deepened from 10 m to 14 m. The deepened channel has become a sediment trap for littoral drift bypassing and tidal current driven sediment transport through the inlet. Since 1992, there has been an increase in maintenance dredging requirements at the inlet, because of sand accumulation along the southeastern border of the entrance channel. Previous studies have identified an ebb tide–induced eddy operating on the eastern side of the ebb-jet as it exits the tidal gorge. In this article, the eddy system has been simulated with a validated two-dimensional hydrodynamic model, detailing time-varying current patterns over the ebb-tidal delta. Particular emphasis is placed on defining the trajectory of the eddy and evaluating its influence on the observed sedimentation patterns. The model results indicate the formation of opposing eddies on either side of the entrance channel, both of which are transient in nature. The centre of the eastern eddy propagates seaward along the downdrift margin of the entrance channel as the ebb-jet lengthens. Bathymetric survey residuals between 2004 and 2006 confirm significant accumulations of sediment along this downdrift margin. The evidence is consistent that the eddy system exerts a directional control over transport of sediments entrained by waves over the ebb-tidal delta.


The principal problem in measurement of emission IR spectra is the low signal-to-noise ratio resulting from the large background radiation relative to sample emission. One method of increasing the signal is to collect the emitted radiation over a very large solid angle using an ellipsoidal mirror. In this method, placing the sample at the short focal length of the ellipsoid both increases the amount of radiation collected for an improved signal-to-noise ratio as well as facilitates sampling of small areas. For locating the area of interest, a microscope is mounted on the emission accessory. The results of testing this emission accessory under different operating conditions such as different samples, emission angles, temperatures, etc., are presented.


This paper compares three translators, Chi-chen Wang, the Yangs, and William A Lyell, who translated Lu Xun, the most important and a canonized Chinese writer in the twentieth century, so as to examine how non-linguistic factors affect translation. Beginning from the introduction of the divergence of the translators' identities, motivations and socio-cultural background, the paper analyzes the reasons of their preferences in selections of originals, different translation strategies and different translation products. To introduce real China to the Americans in the 1920s, Wang translated the best stories of Lu Xun into fluent American English, with the difficult and unimportant cultural terms simplified or omitted. The Yangs worked for a nation-sponsored publishing house on mainland China and their translations of Lu Xun in the 1960s were attached with much political significance, which partly explained the closeness and literalness of their translation. While Lyell, an American scholar translating Lu Xun in the 1990s, is more scholarly in his translation, containing very detailed explanations and notes of cultural elements. This paper is not to judge but to find out how translations are like what they are under certain circumstances and in certain historical periods.


The present study provides information on the existence of a possible inshore nursery area for white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) in Algoa Bay, South Africa. In total, 43 flights were conducted, using a Robinson R22 helicopter, between October 2010 and March 2012. A total of 50 white sharks was sighted, with a maximum sighting rate of seven sharks per hour in October 2010. The majority (96.0%) of sharks observed were less than 2.5 m in length, immature and sighted between October and March (98.0%). A hurdle model, comprising a logistic regression to model presence–absence and a log-normal generalised linear model for abundance showed that water temperature and barometric pressure explained the sightings of sharks, peaking in mid-December. The sighting of sharks was best explained by barometric pressure, month and year. A total of 58 white shark catches was recorded from key informant interviews with shore anglers between July 2009 and December 2011. Sharks ranged in size from 1.5 to 2.5 m in total length, with young-of-the-year sharks (<1.75 m) accounting for 69.0% of the catch. Defining key habitats for young-of-the-year and juveniles is critical for the management and conservation of white sharks worldwide.


We investigate the problem of personalized review-based rating prediction which aims at predicting users' ratings for items that they have not evaluated by using their historical reviews and ratings. Most of existing methods solve this problem by integrating topic model and latent factor model to learn interpretable user and items factors. However, these methods cannot utilize word local context information of reviews. Moreover, it simply restricts user and item representations equivalent to their review representations, which may bring some irrelevant information in review text and harm the accuracy of rating prediction.

In this paper, we propose a novel Collaborative Multi-Level Embedding (CMLE) model to address these limitations. The main technical contribution of CMLE is to integrate word embedding model with standard matrix factorization model through a projection level. This allows CMLE to inherit the ability of capturing word local context information from word embedding model and relax the strict equivalence requirement by projecting review embedding to user and item embeddings. A joint optimization problem is formulated and solved through an efficient stochastic gradient ascent algorithm. Empirical evaluations on real datasets show CMLE outperforms several competitive methods and can solve the two limitations well.


Migraine is a common, chronic neurologic disorder that affects 11% of the adult population in Western countries. In this article, we review the current approaches to the pharmacologic treatment of migraine. Once migraine is diagnosed, and illness severity has been assessed, clinicians and patients should work together to develop a treatment plan based on the patient needs and preferences. The goals of the treatment plan usually include reducing attack frequency, intensity, and duration; minimizing headache-related disability; improving health-related quality of life; and avoiding headache escalation and medication misuse. Medical treatments for migraine can be divided into preventive drugs, which are taken on a daily basis regardless of whether headache is present, and acute drugs taken to treat individual attacks as they arise. Acute treatments are further divided into nonspecific and migraine-specific treatments. The US Headache Consortium Guidelines recommend stratified care based on the level of disability to help physicians individualize treatment. Simple analgesics are appropriate as first-line acute treatments for less disabled patients; if simple analgesics are unsuccessful, treatment is escalated. For those with high disability levels, migraine-specific acute therapies, such as the triptans, are recommended as the initial treatment, with preventive drugs in selected patients. A variety of behavioral interventions are helpful. The clinicians have in their armamentariums an ever-expanding variety of medications. With experience, clinicians can match individual patient needs with the specific characteristics of a drug to optimize therapeutic benefit.


Abstract The productivity of coral reefs in oligotrophic tropical waters is sustained by an efficient uptake and recycling of nutrients. In reef‐building corals, the engineers of these ecosystems, this nutrient recycling is facilitated by a constant exchange of nutrients between the animal host and endosymbiotic photosynthetic dinoflagellates (zooxanthellae), bacteria, and other microbes. Due to the complex interactions in this so‐called coral holobiont, it has proven difficult to understand the environmental limitations of productivity in corals. Among others, the micronutrient iron has been proposed to limit primary productivity due to its essential role in photosynthesis and bacterial processes. Here, we tested the effect of iron enrichment on the physiology of the coral Pocillopora verrucosa from the central Red Sea during a 12‐day experiment. Contrary to previous reports, we did not see an increase in zooxanthellae population density or gross photosynthesis. Conversely, respiration rates were significantly increased, and microbial nitrogen fixation was significantly decreased. Taken together, our data suggest that iron is not a limiting factor of primary productivity in Red Sea corals. Rather, increased metabolic demands in response to iron enrichment, as evidenced by increased respiration rates, may reduce carbon (i.e., energy) availability in the coral holobiont, resulting in reduced microbial nitrogen fixation. This decrease in nitrogen supply in turn may exacerbate the limitation of other nutrients, creating a negative feedback loop. Thereby, our results highlight that the effects of iron enrichment appear to be strongly dependent on local environmental conditions and ultimately may depend on the availability of other nutrients.


Authors of scientific publications and books use images to present a wide spectrum of information. Despite the richness of the visual content of scientific publications the figures are usually not taken into consideration in the context of text mining methodologies towards the automatic indexing and retrieval of scientific corpora. In this work, we present a system for automatic categorization of figures from scientific literature to a set of predefined classes. We have employed a wide range of visual features that achieve high discrimination ability between the adopted classes. A real-world dataset has been compiled and annotated in order to train and evaluate the proposed method using three different classification schemata.


Springer Tracts in Modern Physics provides comprehensive and critical reviews of topics of current interest in physics. The following fields are emphasized:  -Elementary Particle Physics  -Condensed Matter Physics  -Light Matter Interaction  -Atomic and Molecular Physics  -Complex Systems  -Fundamental Astrophysics  Suitable reviews of other fields can also be accepted. The Editors encourage prospective authors to correspond with them in advance of submitting a manuscript. For reviews of topics belonging to the above mentioned fields, they should address the responsible Editor as listed in "Contact the Editors".


The replacement of flexible polyolefin barrier layers with novel, thin, functional polymer coatings in the production of paperboard packaging involves the risk of deteriorated barrier and mechanical properties during the converting process. Local defects or cracks in the protective barrier layer can arise because of the stress induced in creasing and folding operations. In this study, the incorporation of microencapsulated self‐healing agents in coating formulations applied both by spot‐ and uniform‐coating techniques was studied. The preparation process of microcapsules with a hydrophobic core surrounded by a hydrophobically modified polysaccharide membrane in aqueous suspension was developed to obtain capsules fulfilling both the criteria of small capsule size and reasonably high solids content to match the requirements set on surface treatment of paperboard for enhancement of packaging functionality. The survival of the microcapsules during application and their effectiveness as self‐healing agents were investigated. The results showed a reduced tendency for deteriorated barrier properties and local termination of cracks formed upon creasing. The self‐healing mechanism involves the rupture of microcapsules local to the applied stress, with subsequent release of the core material. Crack propagation is hindered by plasticization of the underlying coating layer, while the increased hydrophobicity helps to maintain the barrier properties. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


An increasing number of scientific publications are created in open and transparent peer review models: a submission is published first, and then reviewers are invited, or a submission is reviewed in a closed environment but then these reviews are published with the final article, or combinations of these. Reasons for open peer review include giving better credit to reviewers and enabling readers to better appraise the quality of a publication. In most cases, the full, unstructured text of an open review is published next to the full, unstructured text of the article reviewed. This approach prevents human readers from getting a quick impression of the quality of parts of an article, and it does not easily support secondary exploitation, e.g., for scientometrics on reviews. While document formats have been proposed for publishing structured articles including reviews, integrated tool support for entire open peer review workflows resulting in such documents is still scarce. We present AR-Annotator, the Automatic Article and Review Annotator which employs a semantic information model of an article and its reviews, using semantic markup and unique identifiers for all entities of interest. The fine-grained article structure is not only exposed to authors and reviewers but also preserved in the published version. We publish articles and their reviews in a Linked Data representation and thus maximize their reusability by third-party applications. We demonstrate this reusability by running quality-related queries against the structured representation of articles and their reviews.


This thesis documents a proof-of-concept study of a novel, scintillator based, coded-aperture approach to neutron detection. Developments presented in this document suggest that coded-aperture approach, previously mainly associated with photon detectors, can be adapted for a small scale neutron detector. This work represents an innovative, scintillator based approach for small scale radiation detector aimed at nuclear decommissioning applications. A novel pixelated plastic scintillator was designed and built in this work. Scintillator cells 2.8 x 2.8 x 15 mm each), build of EJ-299-34 plastic were manufactured and arranged into a 13 x 13 array. The plastic scintillator which was used in this research was sensitive to both gamma and neutron fields. Experimental data were obtained for various solid scintillator samples and a comparison of a number of pulse shape discrimination techniques was performed. Prior to the experimental work, a simulation based study identified potential candidates for the scintillation material, as well as characterised the mixed-field environment, provided by 252Cf at Lancaster University, UK. Suitable coded-aperture materials were also computationally identified, and were subsequently used to manufacture a tungsten coded aperture, based on modified uniformly redundant array design technique. Pixelated nature of the coded-aperture based approach to radiation imaging allows the lateral resolution of the image to be improved, without affecting the signal-to-noise ratio. The focal point of this technique is located in the coded-aperture design and the scintillator. Modulation properties of the rank-7 coded aperture, made of tungsten using additive manufacturing techniques, were investigated. The experiment was performed using 137Cs gamma-ray calibration source at Lancaster University. Data obtained were subsequently used to perform the localisation of the point source used in this study. The idea of using tungsten coded aperture for dual-particle imaging was also simulated using Monte Carlo techniques (MCNPX) prior to the experimental work. The pulse shape discrimination performance of the pixelated organic plastic scintillator was investigated. The scintillator was exposed to a mixed-field environment provided by 252Cf and its performance was compared to that of a cylindrical plastic sample. Tests were also carried out in moderated neutron and gamma-ray fields of 252Cf. Suitable pixelated photodetectors, together with associated readout electronics circuitry, were also identified.


Abstract This article examines the evolution of Russia's policy towards BRICS from the time of its formation as a group of four countries in 2006 to the present. The authors analyse the main political objectives that guided Moscow in initiating the creation of this format and in developing it in subsequent years. The article argues that, with Russia as a participant, the character of the organization has undergone major changes, due both to the changing international situation and fundamental changes that the foreign policy of Russia itself has undergone since 2014.


Disjointication inequalities are proven for arbitrary martingale dierence sequences and conditionally independent random variables of the form ffk(s)xk(t)g n=1; where fk's are independent and xk's are arbitrary random variables from a symmetric space X on (0; 1): The main results show that the form of these inequalities depends on which side of L2 the space X lies on. The disjointication inequalities obtained allow us to compare norms of sums of martingale dierences and non-negative random variables with the norms of sums of their independent copies. The latter results can be treated as an extension of the modular inequalities proved earlier by de la Pe~ na and Hitczenko to the setting of symmetric spaces. Moreover, using these results simplies the proofs of some modular inequalities.


The present study was conducted to determine the effect of including different levels of whole cottonseed (WCS) in the finishing diet of lambs on their dry matter intake (DMI), live weight gain, feed conversion ratio (FCR, kg feed/kg gain), carcass characteristics and small intestinal morphology. Twenty Zandi male lambs (29.8 ± 1.6 kg body weight) were assigned to one of four diets in a completely randomized experimental design. The experimental diets contained 0%, 4%, 8% and 16% WCS on a dry matter (DM) basis. The diets were prepared as total mixed rations and fed to the lambs ad libitum. The lambs were slaughtered on day 90 and carcass data was collected. The DMI and average daily gain (ADG) were significantly greater for lambs fed the 8% WCS diet compared with the other treatments. The FCR was significantly lower in the diets containing WCS compared to the control, viz. 6.11, 5.6, 5.46 and 5.68, for treatments 0, 4, 8 and 16% of WCS, respectively. However, the positive effects of including 8% cottonseed in the diet were significant in hot carcass weight, dressing percentage, liver, fat tail, intestinal fat and spleen compared with the control group. Furthermore, villous morphology and depth of crypt gland were affected by both diet and sampling site. No negative effects were observed in the organs and carcasses of the lambs that received different diets. The results indicate that the inclusion of 8% WCS in lamb diets could have a positive effect on most of the traits, but increasing the WCS inclusion up to 16% in the diet may have negative effects on lamb performance.


Wetland methane transport processes affect what portion of methane produced in wetlands reaches the atmosphere. We model what has been perceived to be the least important of these transport processes: hydrodynamic transport of methane through wetland surface water and show that its contribution to total methane emissions from a temperate freshwater marsh is surprisingly large. In our 1 year study, hydrodynamic transport comprised more than half of nighttime methane fluxes and was driven primarily by water column thermal convection occurring overnight as the water surface cooled. Overall, hydrodynamic transport was responsible for 32% of annual methane emissions. Many methane models have overlooked this process, but our results show that wetland methane fluxes cannot always be accurately described using only other transport processes (plant‐mediated transport and ebullition). Modifying models to include hydrodynamic transport and the mechanisms that drive it, particularly convection, could help improve predictions of future wetland methane emissions.