Abstract Summary Computational methods to predict protein–protein interaction (PPI) typically segregate into sequence-based 'bottom-up' methods that infer properties from the characteristics of the individual protein sequences, or global 'top-down' methods that infer properties from the pattern of already known PPIs in the species of interest. However, a way to incorporate top-down insights into sequence-based bottom-up PPI prediction methods has been elusive. We thus introduce Topsy-Turvy, a method that newly synthesizes both views in a sequence-based, multi-scale, deep-learning model for PPI prediction. While Topsy-Turvy makes predictions using only sequence data, during the training phase it takes a transfer-learning approach by incorporating patterns from both global and molecular-level views of protein interaction. In a cross-species context, we show it achieves state-of-the-art performance, offering the ability to perform genome-scale, interpretable PPI prediction for non-model organisms with no existing experimental PPI data. In species with available experimental PPI data, we further present a Topsy-Turvy hybrid (TT-Hybrid) model which integrates Topsy-Turvy with a purely network-based model for link prediction that provides information about species-specific network rewiring. TT-Hybrid makes accurate predictions for both well- and sparsely-characterized proteins, outperforming both its constituent components as well as other state-of-the-art PPI prediction methods. Furthermore, running Topsy-Turvy and TT-Hybrid screens is feasible for whole genomes, and thus these methods scale to settings where other methods (e.g. AlphaFold-Multimer) might be infeasible. The generalizability, accuracy and genome-level scalability of Topsy-Turvy and TT-Hybrid unlocks a more comprehensive map of protein interaction and organization in both model and non-model organisms. Availability and implementation https://topsyturvy.csail.mit.edu. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.


We now know that although the basic relationship of pressure, flow and resistance as expressed by the Poiseuille equation is useful in understanding basic regional haemodynamics, it cannot be applied to pulsatile flow and particularly if any measurements are to be made in the study of graft haemodynamics. Measurements of pressure wave velocity, and flow wave velocity with calculation of wall compliance and impedance are more appropriate. The clinical performance of a graft depends on the mechanical properties of the graft and the response of the body to the prosthesis in terms of fibrous tissue reaction and thrombus deposition. We should aim for grafts with low thrombogenicity, and a compliance which after implantation matches that of the arterial wall of the patient. Although the animal experiments of the 1980s have given us enough indications of what we should aim for, and no doubt they will continue to be the ground for preclinical assessment, the time has come for us to develop techniques that will allow us to do the same measurements in our patients noninvasively. The high resolution M-mode and B-mode echographic vascular imaging and Doppler ultrasonic techniques with real-time fast Fourier analysis are with us and should form the spearhead for such an approach. By measuring graft compliance, thrombus deposition and flow velocities in the grafts implanted in our patients we shall bridge the gap between animal experiments and clinical evaluation, providing the manufactures with enough information that points the direction towards more efficient grafts.


Open access (OA) scholarship—generally, scholarship made freely available online with minimal copyright and licensing restrictions—is a "hot topic" in academic libraries. Academic libraries are perfectly situated to lead the discussion about open access and are natural partners in campus-wide open access initiatives. In April 2012, Rice University's Faculty Senate passed an Open Access Policy, directing faculty to place copies of their peer-reviewed journal articles in the Rice Digital Scholarship Archive. This paper discusses the successes and barriers to policy implementation, thus far. Despite some setbacks, the library's involvement with the policy has positioned it to lead campus-wide conversations about open access. In addition to encouraging policy compliance, Fondren's involvement has invited further conversations about open access and other scholarly communications issues. Further, Fondren's experience managing an OA policy positions the library to play a large role in upcoming federal public access initiatives.


We hypothesized that EPA is preferentially metabolized in peripheral tissues thus making less of this acid available for storage. The three proposed mechanisms investigated to explain how EPA is preferentially utilized included; 1) EPA is oxidized at a greater rate relative to DHA in skeletal and cardiac muscle, 2) EPA is preferentially hydrolyzed from circulating triacylglycerols, and/or 3) EPA is selectively secreted in bile by the liver. -- To investigate the first proposal, fatty acid oxidation studies were conducted using soleus muscle homogenates, intact soleus muscle and cardiac myocytes. Our findings indicated that even though the rate of oxidation of EPA over DHA was doubled in the experiments which employed soleus muscle homogenates, there was no differential oxidation between EPA and DHA in muscle when these fatty acids were incubated with either the intact soleus muscle or cardiac myocytes. Since the latter two experiments are more representative of the physiological state, it appears that these results do not support our first postulated mechanism that EPA is preferentially oxidized compared to DHA by muscle. -- We also suggested that EPA is preferentially hydrolyzed compared to DHA from circulating triacylglycerols by muscle LPL with the hypothesis that if more EPA is released to the peripheral tissues for metabolism then less would be available for storage in adipose tissue. Therefore, chylomicrons were incubated with cardiac lipoprotein lipase (LPL) to determine if there was selective release of EPA. This study demonstrated no difference in the hydrolysis pattern of the two n-3 fatty acids. Thus, preferential release of EPA from chylomicrons by LPL does not appear to explain the lower storage of EPA in adipose tissue. -- The third mechanism examined the proposal that supplementation of fish oil in the diet results in more EPA compared to DHA being available for hepatic phospholipid synthesis. Consequently, more EPA is secreted in bile by the liver. In this part of the investigation, we determined the fatty acid profile as well as the proportion of fatty acids of phospholipids secreted in the bile of rats being fed a diet containing MaxEPA oil as its primary fat source. Even though biliary phospholipids were enriched in the long chain n-3 fatty acids found in dietary fish oils, no significant difference in the relative proportion of EPA and DHA was observed. The differential storage of DHA compared to EPA is thus, not due to the selective secretion of EPA into bile by the liver. -- From our data, we were able to conclude that the suggested mechanisms are not responsible for the preferential metabolism of EPA relative to DHA. We found that EPA was oxidized at a greater rate than DHA in soleus muscle homogenates. However, when more physiological models were used, i.e., cardiac myocytes or the intact skeletal muscle, there were no differences in the oxidation of either of these fatty acids. Furthermore, we determined that EPA and DHA were released from triacylglycerols in lymph-derived chylomicrons at similar rates and that both fatty adds were secreted in bile to the same extent.


Pleurothallis cerea , a species described based on a specimen collected by Lankester in Costa Rica, and commonly placed under the synonymy of Myoxanthus octomeriae or M. congestus , is here recognized as distinct. The species is easily distinguished by the shape and size of the leaf, as well as various floral details, especially of the lip. A new combination, tentatively suggested by Carl Luer but never published, is required and therefore validated. Additionally, the vegetatively striking Myoxanthus affinis is recorded from Costa Rica for the first time based on two recent collections. The species is variable within its broad distribution from Co lombia to Bolivia and, although differences with the original material from Peru are evident, we cannot be sure at this time that ours represents a different species. Both species are described and illustrated based on living plants.


This study investigates the musical lifeworlds of five musically dedicated senior secondary high school students in order to explicate meaning structures within their 'musical ways of being'. These structures illuminate the participants' musical lives as they are 'lived' and each idiosyncratic and unique relationship with music.
While the study illuminates broad features of the way 'musical lives are lived' it also highlights two specific lifeworld realms. The first is the realm of lived musical experiences that are described as deeply felt, formative, transformative or epiphanic. Interpretation of these experiences provides insight into the ways that the participants had commenced musical lives. The second is the realm of lived experience with different types of music learning processes. Illuminating music teaching and learning processes from the perspective of each student is designed to contribute to the ongoing dialogue and discussion of music's place in formal institutional settings and informal, student initiated communities of practice.
Data were generated from interviews with the participants, their parents and music teachers, and also from observations of musical performances, researcher field notes and reflexive journal entries. A 're-storying' process was then conducted using narrative analyses and syntheses and phenomenological interpretation. The re-storied research texts were then structured and presented as composite 'portraits' of each participant.

The project promotes narrative and phenomenological 'ways of thinking' about music, music experience and processes of inquiry. I have explored a pragmatic, embodied and situated experience of narrative and phenomenological 'ways of thinking' rather than operating from a priori principles and abstract theories about them. This pragmatic engagement is made visible by the insertion of vignettes, at strategic points, of my situated, lived experiences and learning processes with being a narrative and phenomenological thinker.

The findings suggest that by illuminating the essential meanings within individual musical lifeworlds, music may be perceived not as a thing, but an active process and a socially mediated, integrated structure of self. Sensitivity to and empathy with the ways students live musical lives may assist educators to achieve situational appropriateness whilst teaching. Understanding the ways that life and music are inseparable will help to counter the alienating tendency in Western music education to view music as an autonomous aesthetic object that is independent of the experiencer. The findings suggest that music educators engage in 'pedagogical self-transformation' by adopting a narrative and phenomenological stance. This transformation, I argue, promotes empathy where educators are primarily engaged as 'enhancers of musical identity' and 'interpreters of the musical texts of life'.


The risk-based life-cycle management of engineering systems in a nuclear power plant is intended to ensure safe and economically efficient operation of energy generation infrastructure over its entire service life. An important element of life-cycle management is to understand, model and forecast the effect of various degradation mechanisms affecting the performance of engineering systems, structures and components. The modeling of degradation in nuclear plant components is confounded by large sampling and temporal uncertainties. The reason is that nuclear systems are not readily accessible for inspections due to high level of radiation and large costs associated with remote data collection methods. The models of degradation used by industry are largely derived from ordinary linear regression methods. The main objective of this thesis is to develop more advanced techniques based on stochastic process theory to model deterioration in engineering components with the purpose of providing more scientific basis to life-cycle management of aging nuclear power plants. This thesis proposes a stochastic gamma process (GP) model for deterioration and develops a suite of statistical techniques for calibrating the model parameters. The gamma process is a versatile and mathematically tractable stochastic model for a wide variety of degradation phenomena, and another desirable property is its nonnegative, monotonically increasing sample paths. In the thesis, the GP model is extended by including additional covariates and also modeling for random effects. The optimization of age-based replacement and condition-based maintenance strategies is also presented. The thesis also investigates improved regression techniques for modeling deterioration. A linear mixed-effects (LME) regression model is presented to resolve an inconsistency of the traditional regression models. The proposed LME model assumes that the randomness in deterioration is decomposed into two parts: the unobserved heterogeneity of individual units and additive measurement errors. Another common way to model deterioration in civil engineering is to treat the rate of deterioration as a random variable. In the context of condition-based maintenance, the thesis shows that the random variable rate (RV) model is inadequate to incorporate temporal variability, because the deterioration along a specific sample path becomes deterministic. This distinction between the RV and GP models has profound implications to the optimization of maintenance strategies. The thesis presents detailed practical applications of the proposed models to feeder pipe systems and fuel channels in CANDU nuclear reactors. In summary, a careful consideration of the nature of uncertainties associated with deterioration is important for credible life-cycle management of engineering systems. If the deterioration process is affected by temporal uncertainty, it is important to model it as a stochastic process.


Vascular endothelium may respond differently to high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE) when compared to moderate-intensity steady state exercise (SSE). We hypothesized that greater sympathetic stimulation of soluble vascular adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1) and intracellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) and greater oxidative and nitrative stress on the vascular endothelium may transiently result from HIIE. PURPOSE: Determine the influence of HIIE on sVCAM-1, sICAM-1 and 3-nitrotyrosine (NT), a marker of nitric oxide-dependent reactive nitrogen species and nitrative stress, relative to a comparable amount of moderate-intensity SSE and a dose that is half that of SSE. METHODS: Seventeen male participants (age 27.8 + 6.4 yr; weight 80.6 + 9.0 kg; BMI 25.1 + 2.4 kg/m2; %fat = 19 + 5; VO2max 52.1 + 7.5 ml/kg/min) underwent HIIE by treadmill running (90% and 40% of VO2reserve in 3:2 min ratio) to expend 500 kcals (H500); HIIE to expend 250 kcals (H250), and; SSE at 70% VO2reserve to expend 500 kcals (M500) in a randomized crossover design. Intensities of all exercise conditions averaged 70% VO2reserve. Blood measures of sVCAM-1 (ng/mL), sICAM-1 (ng/mL), NT (nM), epinephrine (EPI) and norepinephrine (NE) in pg/mL, were obtained just before, immediately after, 2 hr and 24 hr after exercise. Significant differences were determined using 3 by 4 repeated measures ANOVAs. Effect sizes were calculated to determine the magnitude of dependent variable responses to exercise. RESULTS: HIIE resulted in 2 to 2.5 fold greater EPI responses immediately after exercise versus SSE (p = 0.0059, H250 ES = 1.89; H500 ES = 3.04). NE increased an average of 5.4 times above pre-exercise values across all exercise conditions (p < 0.0001). NT decreased immediately after HIIE (H250 ES = 0.39; H500 ES = -0.97) and returned to baseline by 2 hr post-exercise; whereas, NT was elevated 111% 2 hr (ES = 2.46) and remained 24 hr after SSE (p = 0.0001). sVCAM-1 was unchanged with HIIE but increased 6% immediately following moderate-intensity SSE and remained elevated 24 hr post-exercise (p < 0.0005, ES = 1.01). SUMMARY: Our results are in direct opposition to our hypothesis. Transient elevations in NT and sVCAM-1 after moderate-intensity SSE but not HIIE of similar average intensity and duration may indicate unique effects of interval exercise. NT and sVCAM-1 were not elevated after HIIE in spite of a greater sympathetic response than what was observed after moderate-intensity SSE.


The prevailing labor market models assume that minimum wages do not affect the labor supply schedule. We challenge this view in this paper by showing experimentally that minimum wages have significant and lasting effects on subjects' reservation wages. The temporary introduction of a minimum wage leads to a rise in subjects' reservation wages which persists even after the minimum wage has been removed. Firms are therefore forced to pay higher wages after the removal of the minimum wage than before its introduction. As a consequence, the employment effects of removing the minimum wage are significantly smaller than are the effects of its introduction. The impact of minimum wages on reservation wages may also explain the anomalously low utilization of subminimum wages if employers are given the opportunity of paying less than a minimum wage previously introduced. It may further explain why employers often increase workers' wages after an increase in the minimum wage by an amount exceeding that necessary for compliance with the higher minimum. At a more general level, our results suggest that economic policy may affect people's behavior by shaping the perception of what is a fair transaction and by creating entitlement effects.


We propose novel methods for machine learning of structured output spaces. Specifically, we consider outputs which are graphs with vertices that have a natural order. We consider the usual adjacency matrix representation of graphs, as well as two other representations for such a graph: (a) decomposing the graph into a set of paths, (b) converting the graph into a single sequence of nodes with labeled edges. For each of the three representations, we propose an encoding and decoding scheme. We also propose an evaluation measure for comparing two graphs.


The main topic of this thesis is Thruster-Assisted Position Mooring (TAPM), which is a positioning system for automatic thruster assistance of a moored structure. The system has been commercially available since the late 1980s, and is a cost-effective alternative for offshore oil production compared to permanent platforms. A literature review on the topic is provided, and mathematical descriptions of an TAPM vessel and control systems are derived. A 6 Degree Of Freedom (DOF) simulation model of a 1:90 scaled model of an Arctic drillship with the name C/S Inocean Cat I Drillship, in short C/S Arctic Drillship (CSAD), has been established. This simulation model is based on existing models, where for instance the mooring model is based on the Finite Element Method (FEM). CSAD is further used during simulations of the different control systems in normal conditions. Since an TAPM vessel is located in the same position over years, the choice regarding its desired position and heading are extremely important. By using the TAPM system optimal due to the environment, the amount of thrust required will be minimized, leading to a reduced fuel consumption, which in turn will reduce both the operational cost and emission. Two new autonomous heading guidance systems to use in an TAPM operation are developed in this thesis. The main objective of these guidance systems is to determine the optimal heading setpoint. The theory Extremum Seeking (ES) has been investigated in an attempt to find the optimal heading, both fast and accurate. Two approaches of the theory, the sinusoidal perturbation based ES and the numerical optimization based ES, have been used in order to make two autonomous guidance systems for heading. The ES theory is known from other industries, but have until now not been tested for an TAPM application. In order to obtain a complete optimal control system, the autonomous heading guidance systems have been combined with a guidance system based on setpoint chasing to generate the earth-fixed position for surge and sway. This is further tested on the simulation model CSAD. From the simulation results, it can be concluded that both of the ES methods can be used in order to seek towards the optimal heading. However, the methods will need to be further investigated and optimized in order to be used efficiently for this application.


Political Change in America The winds of political change are blowing through America in 2008 and will sweep the party in power from the White House next November. That is the verdict of the Keys to the White House, a prediction system that I developed in collaboration with Vladimir Keilis-Borok, founder of the International Institute of Earthquake Prediction Theory and Mathematical Geophysics. I have been sharing with readers of Social Education predictions of presidential election results, based on the Keys, since Bill Clinton faced off against Bob Dole in 1996. The Keys model accounts for the popular vote winner of every American presidential election since 1860 (see Table 1). It has correctly forecast in advance the popular vote winner of all six presidential elections from 1984 to 2004, usually months or even years prior to Election Day. In 2004, for example, the Keys forecast George W. Bush's re-election in April 2003, nearly a year before any other academic model. The Keys to the White House, as of the beginning of January 2008, indicate that Democrats will win the popular vote in 2008, regardless of the identity of their party's nominee. The Keys Model The Keys to the White House show that a pragmatic American electorate chooses a president according to the performance of the party holding the White House as measured by the consequential events and episodes of a term--economic boom and bust, foreign policy successes and failures, social unrest, scandal, and policy innovation. Nothing that a candidate has said or done during a campaign, when the public discounts everything as political, has changed his prospects at the polls. Debates, advertising, television appearances, news coverage, and campaign strategies--the usual grist for the punditry mills--count for virtually nothing on Election Day. The Keys give specificity to this performance model of presidential elections through 13 diagnostic questions that are stated as propositions that favor re-election of the incumbent party (see Table 2). When five or fewer of these propositions are false or turned against the party holding the White House, that party wins another term in office. When six or more are false, the challenging party wins. Unlike many alternative models, the Keys include no polling data, but are based on the big picture of how well the party in power and the country are faring prior to an upcoming election. In addition, the Keys do not presume that voters are driven by economic concerns alone. Voters are less narrow-minded and more sophisticated than that; they decide presidential elections on a wide-ranging assessment of the performance of the incumbent party, all aspects of which are reflected in one or more keys. Even without counting a single economic key against the incumbent Republicans, they would still be predicted losers in 2008. Answers to some of the questions posed in the Keys require the kind of informed evaluations that historians invariably rely on in drawing conclusions about past events. However, all judgment calls are made consistently across elections; the threshold standards established in the study of previous elections must be applied to future contests as well. The Keys were initially developed through the retrospective study of presidential elections from 1860 to 1980 and subsequently applied to predicting the results of elections from 1984 to 2004. The Verdict for 2008 At the time of this writing in November 2007, eight keys were called against the incumbent Republican Party, two more than necessary to predict its defeat on Election Day 2008 (see Table 3). The following eight keys fall against the incumbent party: * The Democrats won more than enough U.S. House seats in the 2006 midterm elections to topple Key 1 (party mandate). * The Republicans are battling fiercely in choosing a nominee to replace George W. …


A Case Study of a New Spot Welding Electrode Which has the Best Current Density by Magnetic Analysis Solutions At the present time work of spot welding is being broadly used at automotive applications which need serial production process and at part unification. In order to create a high quality spot welding time of welding, electric current intensity, junction, stress, and diameter of electrodes point must be considered earlier, Geometry of electrode point and current density are important for increasing quality at spot welding. In this study, Enose, Bnose and parabolic (ParaCap) type electrode geometries have been considered during design processes. Meanwhile, CMW 73, CMW 100, CMW 353, Elkaloy D, Elkaloy 20, Copper alloyed electrode types have been analyzed by using a magnetic analyzes software. The results helped to determine the best suitable electrode type which gives the best current density amongst different alloys and electrode shapes for the spot welding machines which have same diameter of electrode point.


Efficient exploration is one of the main challenges in reinforcement learning (RL). Most existing sample-efficient algorithms assume the existence of a single reward function during exploration. In many practical scenarios, however, there is not a single underlying reward function to guide the exploration, for instance, when an agent needs to learn many skills simultaneously, or multiple conflicting objectives need to be balanced. To address these challenges, we propose the \textit{task-agnostic RL} framework: In the exploration phase, the agent first collects trajectories by exploring the MDP without the guidance of a reward function. After exploration, it aims at finding near-optimal policies for $N$ tasks, given the collected trajectories augmented with \textit{sampled rewards} for each task. We present an efficient task-agnostic RL algorithm, \textsc{UCBZero}, that finds $\epsilon$-optimal policies for $N$ arbitrary tasks after at most $\tilde O(\log(N)H^5SA/\epsilon^2)$ exploration episodes. We also provide an $\Omega(\log (N)H^2SA/\epsilon^2)$ lower bound, showing that the $\log$ dependency on $N$ is unavoidable. Furthermore, we provide an $N$-independent sample complexity bound of \textsc{UCBZero} in the statistically easier setting when the ground truth reward functions are known.


Filling in a key chapter in communications history, Dwayne R. Winseck and Robert M. Pike offer an in-depth examination of the rise of the global media between 1860 and 1930. They analyze the connections between the development of a global communication infrastructure, the creation of national telegraph and wireless systems, and news agencies and the content they provided. Conventional histories suggest that the growth of global communications correlated with imperial expansion: an increasing number of cables were laid as colonial powers competed for control of resources. Winseck and Pike argue that the role of the imperial contest, while significant, has been exaggerated. They emphasize how much of the global media system was in place before the high tide of imperialism in the early twentieth century, and they point to other factors that drove the proliferation of global media links, including economic booms and busts, initial steps toward multilateralism and international law, and the formation of corporate cartels.Drawing on extensive research in corporate and government archives, Winseck and Pike illuminate the actions of companies and cartels during the late nineteenth century and early twentieth, in many different parts of the globe, including Africa, Asia, and Central and South America as well as Europe and North America. The complex history they relate shows how cable companies exploited or transcended national policies in the creation of the global cable network, how private corporations and government agencies interacted, and how individual reformers fought to eliminate cartels and harmonize the regulation of world communications. In Communication and Empire, the multinational conglomerates, regulations, and the politics of imperialism and anti-imperialism as well as the cries for reform of the late nineteenth century and early twentieth emerge as the obvious forerunners of todays global media.


BACKGROUND
Increases in the novel serum marker cystatin C are detectable much earlier in the course of chronic kidney disease (CKD) even when levels of serum creatinine are still in the normal range. A major factor causing a decrease in serum creatinine is increasing age. Patients with CKD are more likely to develop cardiovascular disease (CVD) than a healthy population and to suffer premature deaths from CVD related to CKD. The aim of this study was to investigate whether cystatin C, serum creatinine, and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) predict cardiovascular mortality in patients admitted to the emergency department (ED) with suspected acute coronary syndromes (ACS).

METHODS
In 1,282 patients (mean age 62 ± 15 years, 477 women, 805 men) with suspected ACS, baseline cystatin C concentrations, serum creatinine, and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) were measured at the ED. Clinical assessment and serial high sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) measurements were used for the diagnosis of ACS. Seventeen cardiovascular deaths were registered during a median follow-up of 365 days.

RESULTS
HRs from univariate Cox regression models for each of the potential biomarkers were 12.02 (95% CI 5.10 - 28.34) for cystatin C, 4.53 (1.75 - 11.70) for serum creatinine, and 0.97 (0.96 - 0.99) for eGFR. All three biomarkers showed a significant association with cardiovascular mortality in univariate analyses. The HRs from a model with all three potential biomarkers were 59.21 (95% CI 9.69 - 361.76) for cystatin C, 0.08 (0.01 - 0.58) for serum creatinine, and 0.98 (0.96 - 1.01) for eGFR. The risk association was significant for ln (cystatin C) and ln (serum creatinine).

CONCLUSIONS
Results of this prospective study show that the quantification of renal function using cystatin C is useful for predicting cardiovascular mortality in patients with suspected ACS at the ED.


Recurrent miscarriage (RM) was recently re-defined by the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) as the loss of two or more consecutive pregnancies. Before this, and indeed still in some countries, RM was defined as three or more consecutive pregnancy losses. While the incidence of RM depends on the definition employed and population studied, it is generally accepted to affect 1-6% of women of reproductive age. Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) for RM have been published by some professional organisations. While there are CPGs on miscarriage in Ireland, there are none concerning RM specifically. The aim of this systematic review is to identify, appraise and describe published CPGs for the management, investigation and/or follow-up of RM within high-income countries. Electronic databases (MEDLINE (Ovid ®; 1946), Embase ® (Elsevier; 1980), CINAHL Complete (EBSCOhost; 1994), Web of Science™ (Thomson Reuters), Scopus (Elsevier; 2004), and Open Grey (INIST-CNRS; 2011)), selected guideline repositories, and the websites of professional societies will be searched to identify CPGs, published within the last 20 years, for potential inclusion. Two reviewers will review abstracts and full texts independently against the eligibility criteria. Characteristics and recommendations of included CPGs will be extracted by one reviewer and double-checked by another. Two reviewers will use the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation version 2 (AGREE II) instrument independently to assess the quality of the included CPGs. Narrative synthesis will be conducted to appraise and compare CPGs and their recommendations or guidance therein. The identification, appraisal and description of published CPGs in other high-income countries will be a valuable first step in informing efforts to promote the optimisation and standardisation of RM care.


Considering the power of web-based tools for crowdsourcing, planning organizations are increasingly using these technologies to gather ideas and preferences from the public. These technologies often generate substantial, unstructured data about public needs. However, our understanding of the use of crowdsourced information in planning is still limited. Focusing on the City of Cincinnati Bike-share planning as a case study, this article explores the challenges and considerations of using crowdsourced information. Employing mixed analysis methods, the article analyzes participant suggestions and examines whether and how those suggestions were incorporated into the bike-share plan. Interpretive analysis of interviews provided insights about suggestions that were used in the final plan. The results highlight organizational opportunities and limitations. A variety of organizational factors affected the utility of crowdsourced information in Cincinnati bike-share plan. These include the capability of the planning organizations to analyze data and facilitate participation, and the perception of planners about the value of crowdsourced information and local knowledge.


Coral reefs are subjected globally to a variety of natural and anthropogenic stressors that often act synergistically. Today, reversing ongoing and future coral reef degradation presents significant challenges and countering this negative trend will take considerable efforts and investments. Scientific knowledge can inform and guide the requisite decision-making process and offer practical solutions to the problem of protection as the effects of climate change exacerbate. However, implementation of solutions presently lags far behind the pace required to reverse global declines, and there is a need for an urgent and significant step-up in the extent and range of strategies being implemented. In this paper, we consider scientific frontiers in natural and social science research that can help build stronger support for reef management and improve the efficacy of interventions. We cover various areas including: (1) enhancing the case for reef conservation and management, (2) dealing with local stressors on reefs, (3) addressing global climate change impacts, (4) and reviewing various approaches to the governance of coral reefs. In sum, we consider scientific frontiers in natural and social science that will require further attention in coming years as managers' work towards building stronger support for reef management and improve the efficacy of local interventions.


Chlamydomonas monoica undergoes intraclonal mating-type differentiation (homothallism). Although the species differs in this regard from the more commonly studied heterothallic C. reinhardtii, cell-cell interactions and progression of the sexual cycle are similar for many homothallic and heterothallic species of the genus. Regulation of chloroplast gene transmission by the nuclear mating-type alleles (mt+ and mt-) is another common denominator for Chlamydomonas species studied thus far. We have previously reported the use of chloroplast inheritance patterns to identify mutants of C. monoica that have lost the potential to function as the mt+ mating-type. A similar screening procedure led to the isolation of an unusual mutant, mtl-3 whose phenotype is less readily explained. Chloroplast gene transmission patterns in crosses involving mtl-3 suggest that the mtl-3 strain mates preferentially as mt+. However, normal mating efficiencies and high zygospore viability are observed in clonal culture, indicating the unbiased production of functional opposite mating-types. By construction of appropriately marked strains we have been able to show that mtl-3 mt- gametes prefer the mt+ gametes of their own strain. A model is presented which invokes unequal crossing over between highly homologous flagellar agglutinin genes to account for the unusual properties of the mtl-3 strain and for the evolution of mating barriers within the genus.


To the Editor: Gyroviruses (GyVs) are naked, single-stranded DNA viruses that were described in chickens in 1979 (1). Chicken anemia virus (CAV), initially the sole member of the genus Gyrovirus (family Circoviridae), possesses a genome of ≈2.3 kb, containing 3 major partially overlapping open reading frames, viral proteins [VP] 1–3, and a short untranslated region (1). For >30 years, this virus, which was responsible for severe anemia and increased death rates in young chickens, was considered to have an extremely low genetic diversity and to be specific to this animal host. In 2011, however, sequence-independent molecular protocols enabled the characterization of highly divergent, GyV-related sequences in human and chicken biological samples. Human GyV 1 (HGyV1), avian GyV 2, and GyV3 sequences were identified from human skin, chicken blood, and human feces, respectively (2–4). These genomes harbor a genetic organization similar to CAV, despite a high genetic divergence (49%–65%).

One study described the detection of GyVs in HIV-positive patients and kidney transplant recipients (0.7% and 6%, respectively) (5), but these viruses had not been identified in blood samples from healthy persons. We investigated the presence of HGyV DNA in 352 blood samples from healthy blood donors in France (mean age 39 years; 185 men; M:F ratio 1:1.11).

Plasma samples were prepared as described (6), and 1-mL aliquots were used for nucleic acids extraction (MagNA pure LC; Roche Diagnostics, Meylan, France). HGyV DNA was detected by using 2 systems in separate real-time TaqMan amplification assays (StepOne Plus; Applied Biosystems, Courtaboeuf, France). The first detection assay (VP1 gene) was described previously (HGyV-rtFP/HGyV-rtRP primers, HGyV-rtP probe, 72 nt) (5). The second assay was designed following the analysis of available HGyV sequences (Figure): sense primer HGyVsPBs 5′-GCTAAGACTGTRACATGGC-3′, reverse primer HGyVsPBr 5′-CTCCGGGAATAGCGTCTTC-3′, probe HGyVsPBp 5′-FAM-TGGCACTGGAGACACAGACTGCG-TAMRA-3′. This assay targets the VP2 gene of the viral genome, with an expected length of 118–115 bp, depending on the reference sequence considered.

Figure

Alignment of partial sequences of human gyroviruses (HGyVs) from healthy blood donors, France. Point mutation corresponding to a nonsynonymous substitution is in boldface (13F1 isolate). Reference sequences and GenBank accession nos.: HGyV1-915, {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"FR823283","term_id":"334880274","term_text":"FR823283"}} ...

Amplification reactions were performed by using 10% of extracted material with the TaqMan Fast Universal PCR Kit (Applied Biosystems) in a final volume of 20 μL. Cycling conditions for both assays were 95°C for 20 s, followed by 50 cycles of 95°C for 1 s and 60°C for 20 s. The sensitivity of TaqMan assays was estimated to be 10 copies of HGyV DNA by using dilutions of a synthetic template. Each amplification product was subjected to additional agarose gel electrophoresis to help eliminate potential false-negative real-time PCR results.

Among the 352 plasma samples tested, 3 (0.85%) resulted in a positive signal by using our in-house real-time detection assay; no positive signal was identified by using the other system tested. When the tests were repeated, identical results were obtained. No additional amplicons were identifiable after agarose gel analysis. HGyV DNA titers in the 3 positive samples were low (<500 copies/mL plasma). Positive blood samples originated from 1 woman (age 44) and 2 men (ages 29 and 39). No biological or serologic marker evaluated for routine blood donor screening in France was associated with these donations.

Partial HGyV sequences obtained were cloned and sequenced (7 clones each). All sequences characterized clustered with HGyV1 sequences, exhibiting either 100% nucleotide identity or 1 point mutation (corresponding to a nonsynonymous substitution, ala →thr) (Figure). No intragenetic diversity was identified.

Our results demonstrate that recently discovered HGyVs are detectable in blood of healthy persons. The low prevalence (0.85%) suggests, however, that the virus is infrequently found in the general population in France. A study from Italy of HGyVs in blood from healthy donors did not detect such viruses (5). This result may be linked to the small number of samples tested (n = 50) or to the use of a nonoptimized detection system designed on the basis of HGyV1 sequences only; moreover, the possibility that the VP1 and VP2 amplified regions would be conserved differently must be considered.

It is probable that subsequent sequences of HGyVs remain to be identified in human blood. A recent study reported the characterization of a highly divergent GyV sequence (GyV4) in human fecal samples and chicken meat (7); as with avian GyV2 and GyV3, further research is needed to determine whether this variant replicates in the human body or is solely ingested in food and passively excreted. A better knowledge of the genetic diversity of these newly discovered viruses will enable development of improved molecular detection systems and their subsequent use in epidemiologic studies involving diverse human cohorts.

The potential clinical importance of HGyVs remains to be clarified. Although infection with CAV in birds is frequently associated with clinical signs and disease, the presence of HGyVs in immunocompromised or immunocompetent humans does not appear to be correlated with visible symptoms. Further studies of the natural history and distribution of HGyVs in human hosts are needed.


Many research articles and methods presented over the problem of approximate string search, however most this methods suffered from the accuracy and speed. Our work deals with the approximate string search in large spatial databases. Especially, this paper investigates range queries augmented with a string similarity search predicate in both euclidean space and road networks. This query is called spatial approximate string (SAS) query . This paper presents a study for spatial approximate string queries in both the euclidean space and road networks. For ESAS query Spatial solution is done using MHR-tree , which embeds min-wise signatures into an R-tree in Euclidean space. For RSAS query, spatial solution is done using RSASSOL algorithm..


Mass-casualty incidents (MCI) cause a sudden increase in demand of medical resources in a region. The most important and challenging task in addressing an MCI is managing overwhelmed resources with the goal of increasing total number of survivors. Currently, most of the decisions following an MCI are made in an ad-hoc manner or by following static guidelines that do not account for amount of available resources and number of the casualties. The purpose of this dissertation is to introduce and analyze sophisticated service prioritization and resource allocation tools. These tools can be used to produce service order strategies that increase the overall number of survivors. There are several models proposed that account for number and mix of the casualties, and amount and type of the resources available. Large number of the elements involved in this problem makes the model very complex, and thus, in order to gain some insights into the structure of the optimal solutions, some of the proposed models are developed under simplifying assumptions. These assumptions include limitations on the number of casualty types, handling of deaths, servers, and types of resources. Under these assumptions several characteristics of the optimal policies are identified, and optimal algorithms for various scenarios are developed. We also develop an integrated model that addresses service order, transportation, and hospital selection. A comprehensive set of computational results and comparison with the related works in the literature are provided in order to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed methodologies. This work was supported in parts by the National Science Foundation (Grant #1055360) and Carilion Clinic.


Sixty consecutive patients who had undergone replacement of dental amalgam fillings and a protocol of nutritional support and heavy metal detoxification using dimercapto-propanyl-sulfate and neural therapy were surveyed. A questionnaire was mailed to the patients and 42 responded, resulting in a response rate of 70%. The reasons for undergoing treatment were many, ranging from a patient's desire to avoid potential health problems in the future to treatment of serious current disease. Although medical diagnoses were made when possible before treatment, this survey studied only the patients' estimations of their most distressing symptoms and their evaluations of response to treatment. The most common complaints were problems with memory and/or concentration; muscle and/or joint pain; anxiety and insomnia; stomach, bowel, and bladder complaints; depression; food or chemical sensitivities; numbness or tingling; and eye symptoms, in descending order of frequency. The most distressing symptoms were headache and backache, fatigue, and memory and concentration problems. Headache and backache responded best to treatment, but all symptoms showed considerable improvement on average. Of the respondents, 78% reported that they were either satisfied or very satisfied with the results of treatment, and 9.5% reported that they were disappointed.


This article presents a historical case-study in forced removals and its ramifications from 1961 to 1977 from the perspective of socio-environmental history. The focus area is Pretoria (South Africa) in a resettlement area called Ga-Rankuwa whose community was displaced from Lady Selborne in the 1960s. The article demonstrates that forced removals did not only result in people losing their historical land and material possessions but also their sense of being and connectedness. The focus is on the changing perceptions of people in the midst of their land loss, an area of study that is generally underexamined in academia. In Lady Selborne, blacks were displaced from an area that was agriculturally fertile, close to the city centre of Pretoria and relocated to infertile Ga-Rankuwa on the outskirts of the city. This resettlement resulted in many of those relocated being prevented from engaging in food production, which was in turn an affront to Sotho-Tswana culture and religion with its emphasis on land as lefa: a bequest that has to feed its inhabitants. This mind-set resulted in forced removals and in turn led blacks to disregard environmental issues. Ga-Rankuwa became degraded with litter, soil erosion and dongas, especially in the 1970s, as people realised that there was no hope of returning to Lady Selborne.


New data indicate Wernecke Breccia-associated iron oxide copper-gold (IOCG) deposits likely formed from moderate-temperature, high-salinity, non-magmatic brines. The breccias formed in an area underlain by a sedimentary sequence that locally contained evaporites (potential source of chloride and possibly sulfur) and was thick enough to produce elevated fluid temperatures. Metals (Fe, Cu, Co, U) were probably derived from host strata, transported as chloride complexes, and precipitated due to changes in fluid temperature and pressure during brecciation. These new data suggest that the spectrum of genetic models for IOCG deposits that typically invoke formation from magmatic or hybrid magmatic–non-magmatic fluids should be expanded to include those systems that formed in a non-magmatic environment. Modifications to the definition of IOCG systems are proposed that reflect the degree of involvement of magmatic and/or non-magmatic fluids and the nature of the mineralizing environment. A division into magmatic, non-magmatic, and hybrid magmatic–non-magmatic IOCG types is suggested. Typical magmatic end-member IOCG deposits include Lightning Creek and Eloise, Australia. Hybrid magmatic–non-magmatic IOCG examples include Ernest Henry and Olympic Dam, Australia. The Wernecke Breccia and Redbank deposits are suggested as possible representatives of non-magmatic IOCG end members. End-member magmatic IOCG deposits have similarities to some porphyry deposits, whereas non-magmatic IOCG end members share characteristic with some sediment-hosted Cu deposits, suggesting that the range of IOCG deposits may form a link between intrusive- and sediment-related deposits.


During the recent European sovereign debt crisis, returns on EMU government bond portfolios experienced substantial volatility clustering, leptokurtosis and skewed returns as well as correlation spikes. Asset managers invested in European government bonds had to derive new hedging strategies to deal with changing return properties and higher levels of uncertainty. In this environment, conditional time series approaches such as GARCH models might be better suited to achieve a superior hedging performance relative to unconditional hedging approaches such as OLS. The aim of this study is to test innovative hedging strategies for EMU bond portfolios for non-crisis and crisis periods. We analyze single and composite hedges with the German Bund and the Italian BTP futures contracts and evaluate the hedging effectiveness in an out-of-sample setting. The empirical analysis includes OLS, constant conditional correlation (CCC), and dynamic conditional correlation (DCC) multivariate GARCH models. We also introduce a Bayesian composite hedging strategy, attempting to combine the strengths of OLS and GARCH models, thereby endogenizing the dilemma of selecting the best estimation model. Our empirical results demonstrate that the Bayesian composite hedging strategy achieves the highest hedging effectiveness and compares particularly favorable to OLS during the recent sovereign debt crisis. However, capturing these benefits requires low transactions cost and efficiently functioning futures markets.


INTRODUCTION
Dental plaque is one of the aetiological factors in causation of dental caries. Effective removal of plaque can reduce the incidence of caries. Various agents for removing plaque has been introduced, of which, chewable brush is a recent advance. There is limited evidence assessing the effectiveness of using chewable brush in children.

AIM
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of chewable brush in relation to efficiency in plaque removal and reduction in S.mutans counts in saliva.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Ten children of six-nine years with their first molars erupted were included in the study and the children were supervised for their normal brushing for 7 days. The baseline Oral Hygiene Index-Simplified (OHI-S), Plaque Index (PI) and Decay, Missing Filled Tooth Index (DMFT-I) were noted and the saliva sample was collected from the children. The sample was sent for microbiological examination of S.mutans count and the pH of the saliva was also determined. The children were advised to brush their teeth twice daily for seven days using chewable brush. On the seventh day, the indices were noted again and the saliva sample was collected and sent for microbiological examination. Statistical analysis was done using paired t-test to compare the pre and post-brushing index scores, S. mutans count and salivary pH.

RESULTS
There was a significant reduction in the debris index (p<0.001), oral hygiene index (p<0.000), plaque index (p<0.001), pH of the saliva (p<0.037) and S. mutans level (p<0.006) before and after brushing with chewable brush. However, the calculus index remained unchanged (p=0.168).

CONCLUSION
Chewable brush can be used as an effective alternative to manual brushing in children.


Automated lying-posture tracking is important in preventing bed-related disorders, such as pressure injuries, sleep apnea, and lower-back pain. Prior research studied in-bed lying posture tracking using sensors of different modalities (e.g., accelerometer and pressure sensors). However, there remain significant gaps in research regarding how to design efficient in-bed lying posture tracking systems. These gaps can be articulated through several research questions, as follows. First, can we design a single-sensor, pervasive, and inexpensive system that can accurately detect lying postures? Second, what computational models are most effective in the accurate detection of lying postures? Finally, what physical configuration of the sensor system is most effective for lying posture tracking? To answer these important research questions, in this article we propose a comprehensive approach for designing a sensor system that uses a single accelerometer along with machine learning algorithms for in-bed lying posture classification. We design two categories of machine learning algorithms based on deep learning and traditional classification with handcrafted features to detect lying postures. We also investigate what wearing sites are the most effective in the accurate detection of lying postures. We extensively evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithms on nine different body locations and four human lying postures using two datasets. Our results show that a system with a single accelerometer can be used with either deep learning or traditional classifiers to accurately detect lying postures. The best models in our approach achieve an F1 score that ranges from 95.2% to 97.8% with a coefficient of variation from 0.03 to 0.05. The results also identify the thighs and chest as the most salient body sites for lying posture tracking. Our findings in this article suggest that, because accelerometers are ubiquitous and inexpensive sensors, they can be a viable source of information for pervasive monitoring of in-bed postures.


Extensive 3D seismic datasets acquired during exploration offshore southern Tanzania have revealed the complex architecture of two contrasting styles of hybrid turbidite–contourite deposits that formed in the Cretaceous (Albian–Early Campanian) and Paleogene (Paleocene–Oligocene). Both sequences are characterized by migrating channel-levee complexes, interpreted to record, and be diagnostic of, the synchronous interaction of eastward, downslope flowing turbidity currents and northerly, along-slope flowing contour currents. Flow stripping of the fine-grained suspended part of the turbulent flow by weak contour currents led to the formation of expanded levee-drifts on the northern (downstream) side of the channels, which prograded southwards (upstream), driving southwards migration of the turbidite channel axis. The difference in the architecture of the two successions is due to the variation in slope topography at the time turbidite activity commenced and the frequency of coarse clastic input into the basin. Cretaceous (Albian–Campanian) turbidite systems were strongly controlled by the position of pre-existing contourite drifts and moats. The contorted geometry of the system provided loci for the deposition of Cretaceous reservoirs comprising thick, amalgamated channel deposits with a high net-to-gross ratio (N:G) and good vertical connectivity, and intra-slope fans with lower N:G and poor vertical connectivity. Paleogene turbidite channels initially evolved on a smooth slope. Sustained southward channel migration produced Paleogene reservoirs comprising complexly laterally-connected sheets of channel and lobe deposits above a southward-younging, diachronous compound unconformity. In both hybrid systems, contour current influence modified the geometry of the turbidite systems, resulting in temporal and spatial partitioning of the depocentres on the slope.


Background : The charter of patients' right has designed to support medical care to patients without any discrimination. It is a very effective way for facilitation of patients and health care providers' relationship. Materials and Methods : It is a descriptive cross sectional study on 285 physician and nurses. Data collected by completion of a questionnaire and analyzed with Chi Square test. Results : it was found that 74.5% of physicians and nurses are agree with the charter, and the highest agreement was for keeping privacy of the patients information (95.84%). There was no significant difference between physicians and nurses and in males and females. Conclusion : In spite of general agreement with the patients' right charter it seems that there are different concepts between health care providers and patients, and it needs special plans for solving this problem.


Background. Many patients in Ontario, despite being appropriate candidates for total joint arthroplasty (TJA), are not offered surgery. To understand this discrepancy, the authors sought to explore the process by which physicians determine patient candidacy for TJA. Methods. Six focus groups (2 each of orthopedic surgeons, of rheumatologists, and of family physicians) and subsequent in-depth interviews were conducted with 50 practicing clinicians in Ontario. Results. Health care system constraints, including extensive waiting lists, lack of homecare and postoperative support, and, for surgeons, access to operating rooms and resources, are perceived by physicians to routinely influence the ultimate choice of candidates for TJA. Medical brokering, defined as strategies used by physicians in a constrained health system to prioritize patients and to negotiate relationships with other physicians, was an important factor in determining candidacy for TJA. Because individual physicians and surgeons appear to use their own criteria for making these decisions, and because these criteria are modified from time to time in response to specific institutional and system conditions, brokering results in varied decisions about candidacy regardless of patient suitability. Conclusions. Lack of consensus on the necessary patient characteristics for TJA candidacy does not in and of itself account for the discrepancy between the number of patients who are suitable candidates for TJA and those who receive the procedure. Until the process by which health care system constraints affect and complicate the decision-making process around TJA candidacy is more fully explored, patients may not receive appropriate and timely access to this procedure.


Viable urban environment is largely dependent on the size, condition and distribution of urban green spaces within and around cities. Treerows in streets are one of the most essential elements of urban green spaces. The aim of this study was to evaluate tree taxa compositions and lifespan values of trees in tree-row system with special reference to five narrow streets (Garai, Jókai, Tanító, Csokonai and Zsák) of Debrecen. Tree numbers, tree taxa and the origin of tree taxa were determined in two years (2009 and 2017). As a next step, six selected taxa (Pyrus calleryana 'Chanticleer', Acer tataricum, Sorbus intermedia 'Browseri', Magnolia kobus, Acer platanoides 'Olmsted', and Crataegus x lavalleei 'Carrierei') were further estimated for the following lifespan parameters: i) trunk diameter (cm), ii) tree crown size (m), iii) trunk status (in 0–5 grades), iv) tree crown status (in 0–5 grades), v) estimated tree viability (in 0–5 grades), and vi) tree value in Ft. Our results showed that the numbers of tree taxa were 9 and 11 in 2009 and 2017 as well as an overall 279 and 282 trees were evaluated in 2009 and in 2017, respectively. More than 60% of the trees were native or similar to native taxa. The largest and the lowest trunk diameters were achieved for Pyrus calleryana 'Chanticleer' and for Acer tataricum, respectively. The largest and the lowest tree crown diameters were achieved for Acer platanoides 'Olmsted' and for Magnolia kobus, respectively. The best and the worst trunk statuses by 2017 were achieved for Pyrus calleryana 'Chanticleer' and for Crataegus x lavalleei, respectively. The best and the worst tree crown statuses by 2017 were achieved for Pyrus calleryana 'Chanticleer' and for Acer tataricum, respectively. The best estimated tree viability status was achieved for Pyrus calleryana 'Chanticleer' and for Acer platanoides. Overall tree values were 2.73 times higher in 2017 compared to 2009. In conclusion, this study clearly demonstrated the importance of appropriate choice of tree taxa for an establishment of tree-row system in narrow street conditions.


"The twin houses of San Martino di Castrozza constitute the beginning of an activity
that led Bruno Morassutti to engage with the Alpine theme throughout his activity:
at the beginning there were the two small, twin houses (1954-1957), then he moved
on to a large family holiday home (1957-1958), both with Angelo Mangiarotti, and
then he experimented with the "Fontanelle" in the 1960s. The traditional stylistic
features in the houses of San Martino find a balance, a grace and an elegance that,
over sixty years later, do not cease to convince. The restoration of San Martino is
measured in a balanced relationship between empty and full, in continuity with the
elements that characterize the alpine architecture and the wise use of the materials
offered by the territory: wood and stone. The two buildings, identical but individually
distinct, thanks to two simple movements of flanking and staggering, are characterized
by a solid stone masonry that draws two L-shaped walls. The masonry, strongly
anchored to the ground, is counterbalanced towards the valley by a large window
in wood and glass that spreads over two levels and guarantees lighting and direct
views of the surrounding landscape from the living area. The link with the rural architecture of the area is well summarized, in addition to the materials, by the typologically relevant elements including the traditional symmetrical pitched roof with
the structural warp in fir trunks. The roof, detached from the perimeter walls, is supported by wooden columns and partitions, a refined compositional choice that generates an unusual glass surface."


The effect of turbulence on pH and the proliferation of the phototrophic dinoflagellate Heterocapsa triquetra was monitored for 10 d. Four turbulent energy dissipation rates ranging from 0.0001 to 1 cm 2 s -3 were employed. The net growth rate of H. triquetra was on average 0.42 d -1 at all turbulence levels, as long as cell densities were low and pH stayed below 8.9. When cell densities increased and the pH exceeded 9.0, the net growth rate of H. triquetra decreased in all cases. How- ever, at high cell densities, the pH and net growth rate of H. triquetra depended on the turbulence level. At the highest turbulence level, the net growth rate of H. triquetra was higher and the pH lower than at the lowest turbulence level, because turbulence increased the exchange of CO2 between the medium and the atmospheric air. At the second highest turbulence level, the net growth rate of H. triquetra was also higher than the net growth rate at lower turbulence; this was likely to be due to a higher influx of inorganic carbon, even though pH measurements from the middle of the light period did not differ significantly among turbulence levels. However, during the night, pH decreased more at the second highest turbulence level than at the 2 lowest turbulence levels and thereby allowed a higher net growth rate of H. triquetra. Our results suggested that when forming blooms in eutrophic waters under conditions of high pH, H. triquetra will benefit from turbulent energy dissipation rates between 0.05 and 1 cm 2 s -3 .


Propagating spin-wave spectroscopy is reported for two-dimensional CoFeB antidot lattices (ADLs) with perpendicular-to-plane magnetization. The magnonic crystals consist of square lattices of 190 nm diameter holes with different periods p. At p = 600 nm, the velocity vg of long wavelength spin-waves is reduced compared to the unpatterned reference film by up to about 30%. However, a large vg is regained when we leave out a column of nanoholes in the ADLs. Such a magnonic crystal wave guide is found to support faster spin waves than a CoFeB stripe of the same geometrical width, making the finding interesting for spin-wave guiding in integrated magnonics.


With an increase of 13.4% passengers occurred in 2014, the airline industry face the atmosphere of aviation safety and service satisfaction, often appear so airline personnel work stress emotions, resulting in reduced efficiency and even affecting flight safety. As airline employees carry important transportation mission, therefore aviation staff awareness of the work values. In this study, we explore the effect among airline staff facing job satisfaction, work values and commitment by looking at different departments. Our research findings show that job satisfaction, work values, and organizational commitment in varying job classifications, staffs have a different perception. Employees working achievements and challenges of higher self-satisfied person, or can feel their expertise when the work value of the employees will have stronger organizational commitment. Further to the intrinsic values of employee self-affirmation, promotion and remuneration of extrinsic values, both have a positive impact on organizational commitment. Especially pilots and flight attendants cognitive intrinsic values are more evident, thus higher organizational commitment. Company executives shall pay attention to the work of self-affirmation of the intrinsic values of cognition to the administrative staff.


AbstractPlatform margins have been targets for carbonate exploration because they are commonly seismically resolvable and reservoir prone for several critical reasons including karstic porosity. Platform margin karst models, mainly based on the Quaternary of the Caribbean (tropical humid, including "flank margin caves") are well documented, but analogs remain rarely identified in the stratigraphic record. Analysis of a remarkably well-exposed macroporosity paleokarst system from the Paleocene of north Spain, formed under an arid to semiarid climate, provided a model that differs from the Caribbean template. Implications for exploration and appraisal strategies, include provisos regarding (1) how early fracture intensity can be estimated at platform margins, (2) the absence of flank margin caves at the margin, (3) the absence of karstic features at or immediately below the main lowstand surface, (4) the presence of cave-free corridors such that the porosity zones could be missed completely, and (5) the str...


Epithelial cells express antimicrobial proteins in response to invading pathogens, although little is known regarding epithelial defense mechanisms during healthy conditions. Here we report that epithelial cytokeratins have innate defense properties because they constitutively produce cytoprotective antimicrobial peptides. Glycine-rich C-terminal fragments derived from human cytokeratin 6A were identified in bactericidal lysate fractions of human corneal epithelial cells. Structural analysis revealed that these keratin-derived antimicrobial peptides (KDAMPs) exhibited coil structures with low α-helical content. Synthetic analogs of these KDAMPS showed rapid bactericidal activity against multiple pathogens and protected epithelial cells against bacterial virulence mechanisms, while a scrambled peptide showed no bactericidal activity. However, the bactericidal activity of a specific KDAMP was somewhat reduced by glycine-alanine substitutions. KDAMP activity involved bacterial binding and permeabilization, but the activity was unaffected by peptide charge or physiological salt concentration. Knockdown of cytokeratin 6A markedly reduced the bactericidal activity of epithelial cell lysates in vitro and increased the susceptibility of murine corneas to bacterial adherence in vivo. These data suggest that epithelial cytokeratins function as endogenous antimicrobial peptides in the host defense against infection and that keratin-derived antimicrobials may serve as effective therapeutic agents.


Stress Management is getting more and more attention now-a-days, particularly in the financial sectors. There is no such thing like stress- free job. Everyone in their work is exposed to tension and anxiety as they gets through the duties assigned to them. Banking industry which is the backbone of the country's economy is not an exceptional one. The job nature of banking employees is very tedious as it involves the direct customer interaction in all levels. So this study aims to analyse the level of stress faced by bank employees who are under different categories from both public and private sectors of selected banks which resides in Tamilnadu.


In my thesis 'Naturalisme en Theisme' (Naturalism & Theism) I defend the view that a supernatural reality does exist. We can argue for the existence of such a supernatural reality with the help of evolutionary theory. The argument revolves around the intuitive idea that human beings need to keep their meanings and beliefs regarding the world logically structured in order to act adequate. This raises an interesting question: why has evolution chosen to turn us into logical thinking animals? A possible answer is that we have become logical thinkers because reality itself has a fundamental, universal logical order. This metaphysical hypothesis is, however, not very plausible. There is no proof for the existence of such a fundamental universal logical order: we do not know of any physical force or particle that manages to frame reality logically; and it is not possible to argue for the hypothesis that reality has a logical order without thereby using the laws of logic. And all that the so-called 'success of science-argument' establishes to show is that we, like most other beings, are able to modify our environment. There is a better evolutionary explanation, an explanation that has no need of any metaphysical hypothesis. The explanation is simple. We do not have to think logically because the world has a fundamental logical order, but we believe that the world has a fundamental logical order because we have to think logically. We somehow have come to believe that our way of thinking is the measure of reality. However, why do we have to think logically? The answer is that, in order to generate adequate and intelligent behaviour, we need to make all our body-parts cohere with each other. Our bodily movements are constrained by our motor-programs. Muscles do or do not contract. They can however not simultaneously contract and not contract. Such bodily constraints may explain why brains need to organize the brain/body logically. If thinking logically has been brought about by internal constraints, one may come to doubt that the world itself has a logical order. We do of course manage to create a view of the world that is logically ordered, but we do so because only a coherent view of the world makes it possible for us to act adequate. Therefore we may conclude that: (1) given that we cannot prove that reality is logically structured, and (2) knowing that logical thinking is caused by some accidental bodily constraints, reality itself most probably is not logically structured. Well, if reality is not logically structured this means that reality must have features that cannot be comprehended by us. These illogical features of reality appear to be so strange to us, that they fully transcend our coherent view of reality. It is therefore appropriate, regarding its illogical features, to speak of reality as a supernatural world. The most amazing feat is that universal possibillism holds within this illogical supernatural world. And if universal possibilism is true, it must also be true that God exists.


Subsurface light transport can affect the visual appearance of materials significantly. Measuring and modeling this phenomenon is crucial for accurately reproducing colors in printing or for rendering translucent objects on displays. In this paper, we propose an apparatus to measure subsurface light transport employing a reference material to cancel out adverse signals that may bias the results. In contrast to other approaches, the setup enables improved focusing on rough surfaces (e.g. uncoated paper). We derive a measurement equation that may be used to deduce the point spread function (PSF) of subsurface light transport. Main contributions are the usage of spectrally-narrowband exchangeable LEDs allowing spectrally-resolved measurements and an approach based on quadratic programming for reconstructing PSFs in the case of isotropic light transport.


Aims: This study is to analyse the role and mechanism of PTEN in patients with Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia (VAP).
Methods: Alveolar Macrophages (AMs), serum and peripheral blood monocytes were collected from 69 patients with hospital-acquired VAP during the treatment of lung trauma between June, 2012 and July, 2015. Normal samples from 53 healthy people were collected as control group. The levels of PTEN mRNA expression in these samples were examined by quantitative Real-time PCR, while PTEN protein levels were analysed by Western Blot and ELISA. MiRNAs that regulate PTEN expression was predicted by bioinformatics analysis, and the expression of predicted miRNA was measured by quantitative Real-time PCR.
Results: Compared with healthy controls, PTEN was significantly downregulated at both mRNA and protein levels in AMs, serum and peripheral blood monocytes from patients with VAP (P<0.05). MiR-21 was predicted to bind to the 3'UTR of PTEN mRNA, and miR-21 expression was significantly upregulated in samples from SAP patients (P<0.05).
Conclusion: The downregulation of PTEN expression in VAP patients may be directly regulated by the upregulation of miR-21. MiR-21 might affect the function of macrophages by regulating the expression of PTEN, and therefore contribute to the development of VAP.


Labor management relations in the hospitality sector is an important aspect of effective management. Increasingly, unions are becoming proactive in organizing hospitality workers. This manifests itself in strikes, boycotts, picketing, sexual harassment complaints, and complaints to OSHA regarding safety and health workplace violations. This research monitors the current scene with respect to labor management relations and analyzes work issues that have been brought up for third-party resolution by NLRB staff or arbitrators. The study reports on 66 NLRB cases and 104 arbitration cases. Issues brought before the NLRB include mostly contract interpretations. In arbitration, there were mostly discipline issues, including work rule violations, disorderly conduct, poor performance and employee theft. Quite often, the proposed job action on the part of the employer was discharge. In NLRB cases, the employee usually prevailed, while in arbitration the employer usually prevailed.


The Virgin Islands (except St. Croix) are geologically part of the Puerto Rico Bank and biologically related to Puerto Rico, but their cockroaches (Dictyoptera: Blattaria) were not yet as well studied as those on Puerto Rico. To elucidate the number of species, life history, range distribution, and seasonal abundance of these cockroaches, we have conducted a quantitative study since June 2000 using a Malaise trap on Guana Island, British Virgin Islands, in addition to other conventional collecting methods. We found 21 species: Blattella germanica (Linnaeus), Cariblatta antiguensis (Saussure and Zehntner), Cariblatta sp. 2, Cariblatta sp. 3, Colapteroblatta sp. 1, Eurycotis improcera Rehn, Eurycotis sp. 2, Euthlastoblatta facies (Walker), Hemiblabera brunneri (Saussure), Nyctibora lutzi Rehn and Hebard, Panchlora sagax Rehn and Hebard, Periplaneta americana (Linnaeus), P. australasiae (Fabricius), Plectoptera infulata Rehn and Hebard, P. rhabdota Rehn and Hebard, Plectoptera sp. 3, Pycnoscelus surinamensis (Linnaeus), Symploce pararufi collis Roth, S. rufi collis (Fabricius), polyphagid sp. 1 (Compsodes sp. 1), and polyphagid sp. 2. Among them, nine are new records for the Virgin Islands and fi ve for Guana Island. In addition, Euthlastoblatta diaphana (Fabricius), Nyctibora noctivaga Rehn, Panchlora nivea (Linnaeus), P. viridis (Fabricius), and Rhyparobia maderae (Fabricius) were recorded historically but were not rediscovered. As a re- sult, the number of species is increased from 17 to 26 for the Virgin Islands, and from 10 to 15 for Guana Island. Overall, only fi ve species are edifi carian and likely introduced. Nymphs of polyphagid sp. 2 and Euthlastoblatta facies are reported for the fi rst time as dwellers in termite runways. Only eight species came to the Malaise trap; their phenology illustrates close but not necessarily synchronic relationship with both the timing and amount of rainfall. Monthly abundance showed spring and fall highs and summer and winter lows. Yearly abundance reached lows when annual rainfall decreased below a threshold average of 2.0 mm per day. Seasonality and response to drought varied among species. This paper lays a foundation for further research on diversity of cockroaches from the Virgin Islands and their relationships with those from Puerto Rico.


UNLABELLED
There is a need to study the main and interactive bonding effects of differences in solvent and curing mode used for adhesive monomers in dentin bonding systems.

OBJECTIVE
Two solvents (acetone and ethanol) and curing methods (light cure, dual cure) were evaluated on their effects on bond strength and interfacial morphology.

METHOD AND MATERIALS
The adhesives studied were based on two monomers, pyromellitate of glyceryl dimethacrylate (PMGDM) and 2-hydroxy ethyl methacrylate (HEMA). Four groups of eight teeth each were cut to expose planar dentin sections and treated with (a) light-cure system with acetone as solvent (LCA group); (b) light-cure system with ethanol as solvent (LCE group); (c) dual-cure system with acetone as solvent (DCA group); and (d) dual-cure system with ethanol as solvent (DCE group). The treated sections were tested for shear bond strength to composite discs and interfacial morphology.

RESULTS
The mean (standard deviation) of shear bond strength values (MPa) for the different groups were: LCA: 11.8 (2.3); LCE: 12.7 (2.7); DCA: 24.9 (9.3); and DCE: 21.6 (9.6). All bonded sections were characterized by a similar hybrid layer, resin tags, and overall interfacial morphology.

CONCLUSION
There was a significant difference in shear bond strength as a function of cure mode, but not of solvent. The mean bond strength was higher for dual-cure systems studied. Oxygen inhibition effects may account for the difference between light-cure and dual-cure types.


Recent results of research in circuit theory and optics are combined to show both upper and lower bounds on the modulus of the transfer function of incoherent optical systems. The results are shown in the form of graphs. The upper bound is the best possible, but the lower has not been shown to be the greatest lower bound.


Despite high rates of electrification in China, 25 to 30 million people remain without access to electricity. This population, as well as those with only intermittent access, must rely on alternate sources of power for their lighting needs. This paper presents a comparison of available off-grid and grid-based lighting options in terms of performance and economics, which is then contextualized using a case study of semi-nomadic populations in rural Tibet. Fuel-based lighting is shown to be significantly more costly than solar-powered compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and solar-powered light-emitting diode (LED) alternatives per unit of lighting services delivered. We calculate that a hurricane-style kerosene lamp costs approximately $0.40 per thousand lumen hours (klmh) or $2.89 per thousand lux hours (klxh), while a solar-CFL lantern costs $0.17/klmh and $1.20/klxh and a solar-LED device costs $0.15/klmh and $0.03/klxh. Furthermore, as LED efficiencies continue to improve, solarLED products will become even more economical. Three focus groups and 15 household interviews were held among off-grid populations in rural Tibet to gauge response to LED technologies. LEDs were universally ranked below CFL alternatives, primarily due to the directional nature of the LED devices exhibited, but were still ranked above all non-electric sources of light. Diffusing optics may thus need to be incorporated into solar-LED lighting systems before they are rated as more attractive for general illumination than solar-CFL systems. Accordingly, those surveyed placed a high value on the use of LED bulbs for flashlight applications. Finally, we note that despite the potential benefits of LEDs, market forces are not likely to spur innovation in solarLED lighting options for the unelectrified populations of Tibet, as the design of these systems is dominated by the governmental bodies subsidizing their distribution. Unless this structure changes, the future development of LED-lighting technologies will depend on top-down investment from the central and local governments.


We present a first implementation of optical-frequency-comb-based rapid trace gas detection in the molecular fingerprint region in the mid-infrared. Near-real-time acquisition of broadband absorption spectra with 0.0056 cm(-1) maximum resolution is demonstrated using a frequency comb Fourier transform spectrometer which operates in the 2100-to-3700-cm(-1) spectral region. We achieve part-per-billion detection limits in 30 seconds of integration time for several important molecules including methane, ethane, isoprene, and nitrous oxide. Our system enables precise concentration measurements even in gas mixtures that exhibit continuous absorption bands, and it allows detection of molecules at levels below the noise floor via simultaneous analysis of multiple spectral features.


ABSTRACT In high-income countries, not completing secondary school often entails a high risk of social exclusion. Using data on young adults born in 1985 who grew up in metropolitan Sweden, we study factors associated with not graduating from upper-secondary school at age 21. Our hypothesis is that if a young person sees examples of people who are not able to earn a living despite having a long education, such negative examples are influential. Results from estimated logistic models are consistent with the hypothesis.


Between 1960 and 1980, the trophic state of Lake Geneva (situated between France and Switzerland) has changed from oligotrophic to eutrophic. Since then, the areal hypolimnetic oxygen demand of 1.31 gm-2 d-1 is now the highest measured in Switzerland and low oxygen contents of less than 4 mg l-1 regularly occur in the deepest parts (300m deep). Oxygen depletion is to a large amount driven by sediment oxygen uptake (SOU). In a large and complex lake like Lake Geneva, SOU can vary significantly temporally and spatially and is strongly dependent on the diffusive boundary layer (DBL) thickness which in turn varies with bottom boundary layer (BBL) currents.


Summary

This paper is concerned with the workings of voice among pastoralists in Ethiopia. It documents how diverse pastoralist men and women – young and old, rich and poor – call on one another and on representatives and officials in efforts to achieve cooperation and influence. Diverse pastoralists explain how successful voice is the result of interconnectedness and opportunity. Individual influence varies with a speaker's social and political connections, with his or her determination, skill and experience, and as a consequence of geography and politics.

In this study we learned that to be successful as a pastoralist in Ethiopia is to be 'competent' and to be competent is to have voice. People want to build capabilities to develop and manage assets, make demands, and secure and give support. Competence can be appreciated in their mobility, visibility, audibility and action: moving to watering and grazing places at the right time, bringing up children and managing the household well, being seen doing business in town, speaking effectively at clan and government meetings, being generous in welfare and wise in justice. Competence and voice are the basis of wealth and a bulwark against hard times, going beyond ideas of social, economic or political capital to embrace Amartya Sen's notion of capability and agency, constantly renewed in interconnection and discussion (Sen 1999).

In speaking, people are seeking binding responses, although often all they get are false assurances or rebuff. Poor pastoralists, clustering in increasing numbers around the edges of settlements, say that they are becoming powerless objects of state welfare, disconnected and unable to regain competence, still less contribute to society's wellbeing. The response of pastoralist leaders has been to increase the level of engagement between different pastoralists, while increasing the intensity of their public engagements with the state.


Abstract The purpose of the present paper is to attempt to identify relations between the changing perception of leisure and the creation of tourism and recreational spaces in urban areas. The authors focus in particular on changes associated with the so-called 'third wave' (Toffler 2001), time compression (Niezgoda 2017), and departure from synchronization. These considerations are illustrated by an analysis of the recreational activity of Szczecin residents and of tourists, and attempt identifying the relations between recreational space and tourism space. With the constant compression of leisure time, tourism activities become more similar to the leisure activities of residents, which means both types occur in the same environment. Urban recreational and tourism spaces overlap in a way that makes it impossible to separate them, but still allows the distinction of certain sub-spaces where either tourism or recreational behavior prevails.


The European Central Bank (ECB) has finalized its comprehensive assessment of the solvency of the largest banks in the euro area and on October 26 disclosed the results of this assessment. In the present paper, Acharya and Steffen compare the outcomes of the ECB's assessment to their own benchmark stress tests conducted for 39 publically listed financial institutions that are also included in the ECB's regulatory review. The authors identify a negative correlation between their benchmark estimates for capital shortfalls and the regulatory capital shortfall, but a positive correlation between their benchmark estimates for losses under stress both in the banking book and in the trading book. They conclude that the regulatory stress test outcomes are potentially heavily affected by discretion of national regulators in measuring what is capital, and especially the use of risk-weighted assets in calculating the prudential capital requirement.


Two 128-point 16-bit radix-2 FFT/IFFT processors based on synchronous-logic (sync) and asynchronous-logic (async) for low voltage (1.1-1.4 V) energy-critical low-speed hearing aids are described. The two processors herein are designed with the same function and similar architecture, and the emphasis is energy efficacy. The async approach, on average, features ~37% lower energy per FFT/IFFT computation than the sync approach but with ~10% larger IC area penalty and an inconsequential 1.4 times worse delay; the async design can be designed to be 0.24 times faster and with largely the same energy dissipation if the matched delay elements and the latch controllers therein are better optimized. In this low-speed application, the lower energy feature of the async design is not attributed to the absence of the clock infrastructure but instead due to the adoption of established and proposed async circuit designs, resulting in reduced redundant operations and reduced spurious/glitch switching, and to the use of latches. The prototype async FFT/IFFT processor (in a 0.35-mum CMOS process) can be operated at 1.0 V and dissipates 93 nJ.


This paper adopts an upside-down approach to women's political empowerment. While the number of women we need to get into legislatures has often assumed centre stage, this paper takes women's pathways as its starting point. In so doing, it challenges the narrow conception of women's political engagement as occupying formal positions and seeks to present a more nuanced perspective on the spaces, relationships and ways of working that influence power hierarchies and dynamics. The paper's aims are two-fold. First, through a multi-country case study, the paper explores the possibilities and limitations of mainstream approaches such as quotas to strengthening women's access to political power. Second, it seeks to broaden the debate by practically engaging with the question of how we can support women's political leadership in ways that speak to women's realities in very concrete ways.


We have investigated, in young and aged rats, tuberoinfundibular dopaminergic (TIDA) and nigrostriatal neurons of the brain, and the role of the testes and anterior pituitary (AP) on 1) the in situ activity of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), 2) translation of TH mRNA, as reflected by the mass of TH, and 3) transcription of the TH gene, as revealed by the mass of TH mRNA. The median eminence (ME) and corpus striatum (CS) were used as the sources of proximal neurites of the TIDA neurons and nigrostriatal neurons, respectively. The arcuate-periventricular nuclei of the ventral hypothalamus were used as the source of perikarya of the TIDA neurons, and substantia nigra (SN) nuclei of the midbrain were used as the source of perikarya of nigrostriatal neurons. The in situ activity of TH was calculated using the rate of accumulation of dihydroxyphenylalanine after pharmacological inhibition of dihydroxyphenylalanine decarboxylase activity. TH mass and TH mRNA were measured using an immunoblot assay and an S1 nuclease protection assay, respectively. Compared to intact animals, orchidectomized young and aged male rats had significantly (P less than 0.001) increased in situ activity of TH in the ME and CS, but not the SN. Orchidectomy also caused a significant (P less than 0.01) increase in the quantity of TH in the ME and a 2- to 3-fold increase in TH in the CS and SN. In contrast to castration, AP grafts, implanted in the lateral ventricles of the brain, caused a significant (P less than 0.001) increase only in TH activity in the ME. No effect of AP grafts was seen on TH activity of the CS or SN. AP grafts had no effect on the amount of TH in the ME, CS, or SN. In the TIDA neurons of young males and in the nigrostriatal neurons of young and aged castrates, the amount of TH mRNA was not different from that in intact males. AP grafts had no effect on TH mRNA in these dopaminergic neurons. These studies show that TIDA neurons and nigrostriatal neurons share some common aspects in their regulation and are dissimilar in others. AP grafts stimulate TH activity in young as well as aged TIDA neurons, but not in nigrostriatal neurons. Castration leads to an increase in TH mass in both TIDA and nigrostriatal neurons. The increase in TH mass is not associated with an increase in the amount of TH mRNA. It is suggested that castration results in increased translation of TH mRNA, but not transcription of the TH gene.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)


This paper examines the relative wealth position and the portfolio choices of immigrants in Germany. The empirical findings reveal significant differences in overall wealth and various wealth components between German natives and immigrants. Differences in real estate constitute the major part of different levels of net worth, indicating that disparities in home-ownership rates are responsible for the main part of the overall wealth gap. Moreover, migrants' degree of portfolio diversification is significantly lower than that of comparable natives. The results of a decomposition analysis suggest that differences in wealth and asset holdings may be explained by disparity in educational attainment to a sizable extent, while the effects of income differentials and differences in demographic characteristics are insignificant.


Objective: Anxiety disorders of childhood are prevalent, debilitating conditions that do not always respond to existing treatments. Attentional biases towards threatening stimuli have been reported in anxious children and hypothesized to interfere with treatment response. Therefore, we examined such biases in children with anxiety disorders in relation to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) outcomes. Method: Thirty-eight children diagnosed with anxiety disorders in a specialized clinic (21 girls and 17 boys; age = 10.50 ± 1.11 years) and 36 unaffected community controls (19 girls and 17 boys; age = 10.20 ± 1.07 years) participated. Participants completed standardized questionnaire measures of anxiety and a probe position task (PPT) with facial cues. This task often reveals a response slowing effect related to threatening faces in vulnerable individuals. Children with anxiety disorders repeated these measures after completing CBT. Results: Groups did not differ in performance on the PPT, but angry/calm incongruent difference scores were significantly associated with self-reports of social anxiety and state anxiety. When controlling for pre-CBT anxiety levels, incongruent difference scores involving angry faces predicted post-CBT anxiety disorders index scores on the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children. PPT scores did not change significantly with CBT. Conclusions: Attentional bias towards threat on the PPT task may predict response to CBT and appears linked to social anxiety. Interventions to ameliorate this bias merit further study, as they might improve treatment outcomes for anxious, especially socially anxious, children.


We can say with some certainty, al Qaeda loves the Internet. When the latter first appeared, it was hailed as an integrator of cultures and a medium for businesses, consumers, and governments to communicate with one another. It appeared to offer unparalleled opportunities for the creation of a "global village." Today the Internet still offers that promise, but it also has proven in some respects to be a digital menace. Its use by al Qaeda is only one example. It also has provided a virtual battlefield for peacetime hostilities between Taiwan and China, Israel and Palestine, Pakistan and India, and China and the United States (during both the war over Kosovo and in the aftermath of the collision between the Navy EP-3 aircraft and Chinese MiG). In times of actual conflict, the Internet was used as a virtual battleground between NATO's coalition forces and elements of the Serbian population. These real tensions from a virtual interface involved not only nation-states but also non-state individuals and groups eit her aligned with one side or the other, or acting independently. Evidence strongly suggests that terrorists used the Internet to plan their operations for 9/11. Computers seized in Afghanistan reportedly revealed that al Qaeda was collecting intelligence on targets and sending encrypted messages via the Internet. As recently as 16 September 2002, al Qaeda cells operating in America reportedly were using Internet-based phone services to communicate with cells overseas. These incidents indicate that the Internet is being used as a "cyberplanning" tool for terrorists. It provides terrorists with anonymity, command and control resources, and a host of other measures to coordinate and integrate attack options. Cyberplanning may be a more important terrorist Internet tool than the much touted and feared cyberterrorism option--attacks against information and systems resulting in violence against noncombatant targets. The Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) has defined cyberterrorism as the unlawful destruction or disruption of digital property to intimidate or coerce people. (1) Cyberplanning, not defined by NPS or any other source, refers to the digital coordination of an integrated plan stretching across geographical boundaries that may or may not result in bloodshed. It can include cyberterrorism as part of the overall plan. Since 9/11, US sources have monitored several websites linked to al Qaeda that appear to contain elements of cyberplanning: * alneda.com, which US officials said contained encrypted information to direct al Qaeda members to more secure sites, featured international news on al Qaeda, and published articles, fatwas (decisions on applying Muslim law), and books. * assam.com, believed to be linked to al Qaeda (originally hosted by the Scranton company BurstNET Technologies, Inc.), served as a mouthpiece for jihad in Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Palestine. * almuhrajiroun.com, an al Qaeda site which urged sympathizers to assassinate Pakistani President Musharraf. * qassam.net, reportedly linked to Hamas. * jihadunspun.net, which offered a 36-minute video of Osama bin Laden. (2) * 7hj.7hj.com, which aimed to teach visitors how to conduct computer attacks. (3) * aloswa.org, which featured quotes from bin Laden tapes, religious legal rulings that "justified" the terrorist attacks, and support for the al Qaeda cause. (4) * drasat.com, run by the Islamic Studies and Research Center (which some allege is a fake center), and reported to be the most credible of dozens of Islamist sites posting al Qaeda news. * jehad.net, alsaha.com, and islammemo.com, alleged to have posted al Qaeda statements on their websites. * mwhoob.net and aljehad.online, alleged to have flashed political-religious songs, with pictures of persecuted Muslims, to denounce US policy and Arab leaders, notably Saudi. (5) While it is prudent to tally the Internet cyberplanning applications that support terrorists, it must be underscored that few if any of these measures are really anything new. …