Family and school - the most important social institutions in which the young generation is prepared to live in tomorrow's society. Analysis of the research revealed that in the period of age from 14 to 19 the most important values is considered as: empathy, perfection, justice, self-improvement, self-esteem, security, acceptance, courage, knowledge, creativity, competitiveness, friendship, cooperation, responsibility and altruism. Family, which successfully trains and educates such values as security, justice, altruism, empathy, self-esteem, enable the young generation to develop social competence. The main values conveyed in the school- competitiveness, education, cooperation,friendship, recognition. Looking at the situation from a range of competencies, a school distinguished by communication, learning to learn skills and personal development. A closer interaction between school and family accelerate the positive socialization process of young generation and guarantee the further development of the formation process of value orientations (personality development).


Liquid-liquid extraction is the separation of the constituents of a liquid solution by contact with another insoluble. The reciprocating column (RPC) and vibrating plate column (VPE) are two types of mechanically aided columns. This paper aims at developing appropriate correlations for the prediction of NTU/HETS and the mass transfer coefficient, kox for the VPE based on the agitation level of the plates (af – the product of frequency and amplitude of the plate motion), the plate spacing and the flow rates which will allow for the simplification in the design of this type of column. The system chosen was the acetone-toluene-water system (standard test system – EFCE) with the acetone in toluene forming the feed that is dispersed in the column as it moved upward while the water moved as a continuous phase down the column. Experiments were conducted to evaluate the hydrodynamics of the droplets moving up the column and to evaluate the mass transfer that occurs (in order to evaluate NTU, HTU and kox) while varying the agitation levels and spacing of the plates in the column. Successful correlations were developed using some of the experimental data and these correlations were verified with additional data.


The management and exploitation of biotechnological product innovation have proven to be more difficult than initially expected because the number of currently marketed biotechnological products is far from sufficient to counter deficits in pharmaceutical innovation. This study provides insight into the role of governance structures in interfirm cooperation and their effects on biotechnological product innovation and company success. Most of the existing literature regarding alliances and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) examines their effects on technology recipients' innovation performance. Here, the effects of alliances and M&A on both the innovation success and financial performance of technology suppliers (i.e., sources) are examined. Drawing from a sample of 220 human therapeutic biotechnology and biopharmaceutical firms over a period of 32 years (1980-2011), an analysis of the effects of biotechnology clusters, strategic alliances, and acquisitions is provided. This study reveals the existence of a risk-return trade-off for strategic alliances between biotech companies and larger, more established firms. Increased biotech company involvement in product development alliances decreases risk by increasing the likelihood of future product introductions. The trade-off, however, is that biotech companies earn lower returns when their products are developed through such alliances. A similar risk-return trade-off effect is found for clusters. However, acquisitions generally affect both product introductions and product returns in a negative way. These findings have strategic implications not only for managing the development of biotechnological product innovations and technology platforms but also for commercialization strategies with respect to interfirm cooperation and risk reduction.


Abstract Milliken's (2014) classification scheme for fine-grained sediments and sedimentary rocks is an attempt to provide an improved classification that relies on interpreted grain origin to replace existing nomenclature schemes based on sedimentary structures, grain size, and composition. Milliken posits that existing terminology is confusing and therefore proposes new terms, viz. tarl, carl, and sarl, to define three main types of mudstone categories. We consider the proposed classification impracticable because there are: (a) ambiguities associated with interpreting grain origins (intrabasinal or extrabasinal), (b) difficulties in determining the original mineralogy of diagenetically altered particles, and (c) requirements for specialized equipment and techniques not widely available to many geologists. In our opinion, the proposed classification does not improve geological understanding over prior established classification approaches.


Abstract Government-voluntary sector "compacts" have emerged in the recent years as an innovative nonprofit policy practice in many industrialized countries around the world. Originating in England in the late 1990s, the compact phenomenon has today spread to societies with relatively different tracks of inter-sectorial relations and different civil society regimes. This introductory article seeks to chart out the diverse functions that the compact solution seems to perform in different institutional surroundings, and it also opens up for a comparative discussion of the broader socio-political contexts in which this policy instrument has developed.


Abstract The present contribution is a first brief attempt to give an overview of flower visiting by aculeate wasps and bees in the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve (DDCR), and as far as has been established the first of its kind for the United Arab Emirates. Seventeen sites within the reserve were well sampled and, in order to see the reserve in relation to its position in the peninsula, two one day transects were undertaken, one of brief sampling at six sites east from the reserve to the coast at Khor Kalba and the other of brief sampling at five sites west from the reserve to the coast in the marine reserve of the Emirates Marine Environmental Group (EMEC). Flower visitors were observed and sampled on 21 species of plants within the DDCR and on two additional species east of the DDCR and two west of the DDCR. Fifty-one species of aculeate wasps and 27 species of bees were recorded. Of the wasps, 34 species were from the DDCR and the additional 15 from transects east and west of the Reserve. Of the bees, 23 species were from the DDCR and the additional two from transects east and west of the Reserve. Flower sampling yielded flower visiting records for 39 species of aculeate wasps and 23 species of bees. Although this preliminary survey of flower visiting by wasps and bees in the DDCR was conducted over a limited period of time, during a dry spring, following seven dry years, it has provided sufficient data to draw some general conclusions: most of the plants attract visits from a complex of both wasps and bees; the flowers of some plants attract a wide range of wasps and bees but there were no flowers that were attractive to all available wasps and bees at any one site; very few species of the wasps and bees encountered were specialists; and the plants on which these specialist wasps and bees were dependent were not themselves dependent on these species for pollination.


Scholars and practitioners posit that election observers (EOs) affect local beliefs about the credibility of elections. Although these effects have important implications for democratization, they remain largely unexamined at the individual level. This article applies models of Bayesian opinion updating and motivated reasoning to illuminate the conditions under which EOs change beliefs about elections. Experimental evidence from a national survey fielded immediately following the first democratic parliamentary election in Tunisia tests the argument. Two important findings emerge. First, exposure to EOs' positive and negative statements produces a small but significant difference in individuals' perceptions of the election on average. Second, EOs' negative statements cause the election's main losing partisans—who may have had weak prior beliefs that the election was credible and were likely receptive to critical information—to believe the election was significantly less credible. These findings establish a baseline for future work on how third-party monitors shape local perceptions of political processes.


Ce3+ and Eu2+/Tb3+/Mn2+ ions codoped Ca6BaP4O17 (CBPO) phosphors have been prepared via a high-temperature solid state reaction. The structural refinement indicates that the as-prepared phosphors crystallize in monoclinic phase (C2/m) and there are two Ca sites and one Ba site in host lattice. The doping ions are determined to occupy Ca sites and the emission of Ce3+ and Eu2+ ions at different Ca sites were identified and discussed. Since bright blue and yellow emissions were observed from Ce3+and Eu2+ ions monodoped CBPO under n-UV excitation, respectively. They were codoped into the CBPO for designing energy transfer from Ce3+ to Eu2+ to improve the luminescence efficiency of Eu2+. In addition, Tb3+ ions were added into the CBPO:Ce3+ system for realizing highly efficient green emission. The energy transfer mechanisms from Ce3+ to Eu2+/Tb3+ ions were discussed. Interestingly, the incorporation of Mn2+ ions into the CBPO:Ce3+ system enhanced the blue emission of Ce3+ ions due to the modification of crystal lattice. Finally, the thermal stability of CBPO:Ce3+, Eu2+/Tb3+/Mn2+ phosphors were investigated systematically and corresponding mechanisms were proposed. Based on these results, the as-prepared CBPO:Ce3+, Eu2+/Tb3+/Mn2+ phosphors can act as potential blue, yellow, green, and emission-tunable phosphors for n-UV based white LEDs.


A weakly supervised learning based clustering framework is proposed in this paper. As the core of this framework, we introduce a novel multiple instance learning task based on a bag level label called unique class count (ucc), which is the number of unique classes among all instances inside the bag. In this task, no annotations on individual instances inside the bag are needed during training of the models. We mathematically prove that with a perfect ucc classifier, perfect clustering of individual instances inside the bags is possible even when no annotations on individual instances are given during training. We have constructed a neural network based ucc classifier and experimentally shown that the clustering performance of our framework with our weakly supervised ucc classifier is comparable to that of fully supervised learning models where labels for all instances are known. Furthermore, we have tested the applicability of our framework to a real world task of semantic segmentation of breast cancer metastases in histological lymph node sections and shown that the performance of our weakly supervised framework is comparable to the performance of a fully supervised Unet model.


The ligand Slit and its corresponding receptor Roundabout (Robo) are notorious for providing guidance signals to axons finding their initial pathways during early Drosophila development. Kramer et al. now show that the Slit and Robo combination is even more versatile than previously thought. Muscle cells also migrate during the early stages of muscle organization under the direction of the Slit and Robo team. The response switches from repulsive to attractive; initially repelled by Slit at the midline, muscle cells are later attracted by Slit at specific attachment sites. S. G. Kramer, T. Kidd, J. H. Simpson, C. S. Goodman, Switching repulsion to attraction: Changing responses to Slit during transition in mesoderm migration. Science 292, 737-740 (2001). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Cultural competency has been a long held ideal for social work educators and practitioners. However, definitions and approaches to cultural competency vary widely depending on worldview, discipline, and practice context. Within social work and beyond, cultural competency has been challenged for its failure to account for the structural forces that shape individuals' experiences and opportunities. In contrast, the concept ofcultural humility takes into account the fluidity of culture and challenges both individuals and institutions to address inequalities. This article takes a critical look at cultural competence as a concept, examining its explicit and implicit assumptions, and the impact these assumptions have on practitioners. It suggests that cultural humility may offer social work an alternative framework as it acknowledges power differentials between provider and client and challenges institutional-level barriers. The authors advocate a move from a focus on mastery in understanding 'others' to a framework that requires personal accountability in challenging institutional barriers that impact marginalized communities. Cultural humility, while a promising concept, has not been fully explored in social work. Therefore, the authors present a conceptual model of cultural competency along with strategic questions for providers and organizations to integrate into social work practice and education.


The International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) published 2020 updated guidelines on radiofrequency (RF) radiation in the frequency range 100 kHz to 300 GHz. Harmful effects on human health and the environment at levels below the guidelines are downplayed although evidence is steadily increasing. Only thermal (heating) effects are acknowledged and therefore form the basis for the guidelines. Despite the increasing scientific evidence of non-thermal effects, the new ICNIRP guidelines are not lower compared with the previous levels. Expert groups from the WHO, the EU Commission and Sweden are to a large extent made up of members from ICNIRP, with no representative from the many scientists who are critical of the ICNIRP standpoint.


Distinct impressions (muscle scars) commonly mark the sites of attachment of muscle bases on the interiors of both brachial and pedicle valves of articulate brachiopods. Such impressions are formed as a result of modifications in the fine structure and secretory behaviour of outer epithelial cells (responsible for shell secretion) to which the muscles become attached. Muscles are not attached directly to outer epithelium but are separated from it by a very thin layer of connective tissue. In outer epithelial cells underlying muscle bases the two most apparent changes in cell morphology, compared with epithelial cells unaffected by muscle attachment, are a reduction in optimum cell dimensions and the development of a fibrillar supporting framework (tonofibrils) which extends between the inner and outer plasma membranes. As each muscle base enlarges during ontogeny, outer epithelial cells in the path of the advancing muscle base are progressively overlapped. Below the arcuate anterior margin of the muscle base cell division takes place in the outer epithelium. Changes in secretory behaviour are equally drastic. Around the arcuate anterior margins of scars the standard secondary shell mosaic is replaced by a much more irregular deposit (myotest). Evidence of a zone of vigorous cell division within the associated outer epithelium can be seen in the way that smooth spatulate terminal faces, once they become incorporated within the periphery of scars, split up into two or three minor lobate branches. In addition cell division is accompanied by an increase in organic exudation and a corresponding decrease in mineral secretion. Whereas normal shell secretion involves the exudation of a single organic membrane across an arcuate zone in the anterior part of each secreting plasmalemma and calcite secretion across the remaining surface area, epithelial cells underlying muscle bases exude two thin triple unit membranes which ensheath each individual myotest fibre. The calcite secretory zone is restricted to a narrow central zone on each secreting plasmalemma and the second organic membrane is exuded over the posterior sector and continues posteriorly to join up with the anterior membrane in the cell behind. In some scars, adjacent fibres may amalgamate to produce a localized laminar fabric. In at least one rhynchonellid genus, Notosaria nigricans, mineral secretion under muscle bases may periodically cease with the development of a relatively thick organic layer. Within a species the morphology of exposed parts of fibres in any one muscle scar tends to be fairly consistent and generally each muscle base imparts to the underlying shell a characteristic fabric which can be readily distinguished from that of neighbouring scars. In an initial survey of a number of unrelated genera ultrastructural modifications within homologous muscle scars were found to exhibit a fair degree of similarity. The fact that homologous muscles perform basically the same function would account for this structural similarity. In general it is evident that disruptions and modifications of the standard secretory regime associated with the emplacement of muscle bases arise in response to a need for stronger adhesion between the shell and outer epithelium. Such additional adhesion as is required is facilitated by the widespread exudation of organic membranes to which each outer epithelial cell can remain firmly attached by strong hemidesmosomal connections. The dense framework of tonofibrils extending between the inner and outer plasma membranes serves to brace the cells internally against external stresses applied during muscle contraction. The recognition of myotest fabrics in fossil genera which are closely comparable with the myotest fabrics of living articulates would seem to indicate that similar localized disruptions in secretory behaviour occurred also in the geological past.


Current developments in the South African Value Added Tax (VAT) regime consist of new digital tax reforms in comport with the principle of fiscal neutrality. Application of the underlying principle of fiscal neutrality inherent in the common system of VAT requires equal treatment of similar goods and services supplied by taxable persons, which are in competition with each other, see Grattan PLC v Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs [2013] UKFTT 488 (TC) at paras 25 - 27 and 38; Fischer v Finanzamt Donaueschingen [1998] ECR I-3369 at paras 27 - 30; Schmeink & Cofreth AG & Co. KG v Finanzamt Borken and Manfred Strobel [2000] ECR I-6973 at paras 55 - 59. These fundamental tax changes have a colossal impact on e-commerce and also play a pivotal role in aligning current tax laws with contemporary developments in the field of e-commerce.


In human Population Genetics, routine applications of principal component techniques are often
required. Population biologists make widespread use of certain discrete classifications of human
samples into haplotypes, the monophyletic units of phylogenetic trees constructed from several
single nucleotide bimorphisms hierarchically ordered. Compositional frequencies of the haplotypes
are recorded within the different samples. Principal component techniques are then required as a
dimension-reducing strategy to bring the dimension of the problem to a manageable level, say two,
to allow for graphical analysis.
Population biologists at large are not aware of the special features of compositional data and normally make use of the crude covariance of compositional relative frequencies to construct principal
components. In this short note we present our experience with using traditional linear principal
components or compositional principal components based on logratios, with reference to a specific
dataset


Forensic Medicine encompasses all areas in which medicine and law interact. This book covers diverse aspects of forensic medicine including forensic pathology, traumatology and violent death, sudden and unexpected death, clinical forensic medicine, toxicology, traffic medicine, identification, haemogenetics and medical law. A knowledge of all these subdisciplines is necessary in order to solve routine as well as more unusual cases. Taking a comprehensive approach the book m.oves beyond a focus on forensic pathology to include clinical forensic medicine and forensic toxicology. All aspects of forensic medicine are covered to meet the specialist needs of daily casework. Aspects of routine analysis and quality control are addressed in each chapter. The book provides coverage of the latest developments in forensic molecular biology, forensic toxicology, molecular pathology and immunohistochemistry.


The efficacy of a recombinant subunit West Nile (WN) vaccine candidate was determined in a hamster model of encephalitis. Animals included young, aged, and immunocompromised animals in an effort to simulate key groups at risk of WN virus-induced disease. Groups of aged (12 month old), weanling, and adult hamsters rendered leukopenic after immunization were immunized subcutaneously with a WN virus recombinant envelope protein (WN-80E) with or without WN virus non-structural protein 1 (NS1) mixed with adjuvant or adjuvant alone. A challenge dose of wild-type WN virus was administered to produce 40-100% mortality in the control hamsters. The recombinant antigen preparations containing WN-80E with or without WN NS1 gave similar results. Hamsters in both groups had a strong antibody response after immunization, and none of the aged or weanling animals became ill or developed detectable viremia after challenge with WN virus at 2 weeks after booster vaccination. However, mortality among the control animals (administered adjuvant without antigen) at 2 weeks after booster challenge was 40-60%. In hamsters rendered leukopenic after immunization, survival rates up to 80% were observed, and a low-level viremia was detected in the vaccinated and challenged hamsters. The survival rate was significantly (P<0.05) higher in animals vaccinated with a higher dose of WN-80E than a lower dose. The addition of NS1 did not significantly affect survival after challenge. In contrast, all of the control animals that received adjuvant only developed a very high level of viremia, and the mortality rate was 100%. These findings indicate that the recombinant WN vaccines induced antibody in and afforded protection to young and aged hamsters and immunosuppressed hamsters.


rd Street, Lincoln, NE 68506, USA Abstract: Little is known about attitudes of landowners toward elk (Cervus elaphus) on privately-owned land. We mailed questionnaires to agricultural landowners in the Pine Ridge region of northwestern Nebraska in both 1995 and 1997 to determine attitudes toward elk populations and management of elk. Fifty-six percent (n = 214) of respondents in 1995 and 57% (n = 461) in 1997 were in favor of free-ranging elk. Motivation for those in favor of elk was utilitarian (opportunity to view and hunt elk), ecological (return of a native species), and economic (benefi ts from increased tourism and leased land for elk hunting). Reasons for opposition to elk were largely economic (damage to crops, competition with livestock, transmission of diseases to livestock) and convenience (dealing with elk hunters). Attitudes toward free-ranging elk were not affected by year or presence of elk on landowners' property. Attitudes were affected by region and experience with damage from elk. The mean reported cost of damage was $832 and $929 in 1995 and 1997, respectively, with 75 to 80% of landowners reporting damage as minor or tolerable. Respondents who reported damage felt that the population of elk was too high, while landowners who favored elk wanted the population to increase. Most landowners (54 to 63%) were in favor of elk-hunting seasons. Fifty-fi ve percent of respondents in 1995 reported that they would allow elk hunting on their property, compared to 75% in 1997. Management recommendations that stem from this research may apply to landscapes east of the Rocky Mountains in areas that are largely privately-owned and have been recolonized by elk.


Our increasingly technology-driven economy demands a workforce that is proficient in both the concepts and techniques of STEM fields as well as in extending those skills into new applications and innovations. Currently, an impressive and diverse coalition of educators, art advocates, industry leaders, and STEM practitioners across the county are working to achieve that goal, bringing their ideas and advocacy to Capitol Hill. Author/Artist Bio Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici was sworn in as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives on February 7, 2012. She represents the First Congressional District of Oregon, which comprises the Northwest portion of the state. As a member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, Suzanne focuses on making college more affordable and reforming public education. She founded the bipartisan Congressional STEAM Caucus, which aims to encourage innovation and creative thinking by integrating arts and design with science, technology, engineering, and math education. Suzanne also serves as a member of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and she is the ranking Democratic member of the Subcommittee on the Environment. Suzanne first moved to Oregon from Michigan in the mid-1970s. She worked her way through college in Eugene, first at Lane Community College, where she earned an Associate Degree from the Legal Assistant program, and then at the University of Oregon, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts from the School of Journalism. In 1983, she received her J.D. from the University of Oregon School Of Law. During college and law school, Suzanne worked at Lane County Legal Aid Service. Suzanne and her husband, Michael, have two grown children and a cocker spaniel named Charley. Congressman Aaron Schock, a product of Peoria, IL, is currently in his third term representing the 18th District of Illinois. In addition to co-chairing the Congressional STEAM Caucus, he currently serves on the House Ways and Means Committee, which oversees tax and trade policy, and the Committee on House Administration, which provides internal oversight for the House of Representatives. Aaron got his start in public office when he was elected to the Peoria School Board as a write-in candidate at the age of 19. At 22, his school board colleagues voted to make Aaron vice president of the board and a year later they voted unanimously to make him board president for one of the state's largest school districts. He then was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives, where he succeeded in passing 18 substantive bills, several of which were hailed as "landmark reforms." Learn more at http://schock.house.gov.


In lieu of an abstract, here is a preview of the article. This is a reading of Waterland as an allegorical exploration of postmodern theories of the end of history, treating those theories as the novel's intertexts, or subtexts. 1 As the study progresses I shall be interested in developing the broad politico-theological implications of my reading. The most obvious lesson of Waterland is that the "Grand Narrative" of history ends more than once, or rather is always already ended. It first ends with the French Revolution which, as Tom Crick informs his pupils, in rejecting the past and tradition thereby rejected history itself. Tom, then, is already relating the end of history when, in a chapter entitled "About the End of History," he suddenly departs from the grand and objective narrative of the Revolution to narrate the small and subjective narratives of his own life. In short, the 1789 end of history does itself come to an end. Indeed, no sooner has Tom's own posthistorical narrative begun than it in turn is interrupted by the pupil Price who declares that "'the only important thing about history . . . is that it's . . . probably about to end'"(6). As Tom himself remarks, Price has contrived to "disrupt disruption" (51), to end the end of the end of history. The significance of all this, needless to say, is that it brings into question the very idea of the end of history. And it is, of course, a confessedly ironic formulation; Baudrillard, for instance, even when using the phrase, "distances himself," writes Douglas Kellner, "from the very concept of 'the end of,' which he claims is embedded in a linear view of history" (173). Like postmodernism, Waterland may not allow us even the consolation of an end to the "Grand Narrative" of history since, it is implied, there never was such a narrative.


Dignity is the concept most commonly associated with the biotechnological revolution, and almost always used by conservatives in ethics and politics to justify constraining research into novel biotechnologies like cloning, genetic enhancement and life extension. At the same time, dignity is often criticised as inadequate to play such a fundamental role in future-facing bioethics. This thesis is a work at the intersection of applied ethics and politics, and seeks to address two main questions: whether dignity is a useless, hopelessly vague concept, and whether dignity is an inherently political, specifically conservative concept. This problem will be addressed by analysing the concept of dignity as it is found in bioethics policy and in everyday life. Using this conceptual analysis, a structure will be identified that both liberal and conservatives have in common meaning that dignity is not hopelessly vague. Despite having analogous structures, the argument in this thesis shows that the liberal and conservative conceptions of dignity are intractable and both support different positions in many arguments. The implication of this is that dignity will not be useful in building a consensus around policies in future-facing bioethics.


Abstract This is a conceptual paper that seeks to explore the role of entrepreneurial marketing in promoting entrepreneurship in tertiary education. We postulate that the subject of entrepreneurship is marketed in different ways as a means of introducing (a) new learners to the subject area of entrepreneurship and (b) the wide ranging possibilities of entrepreneurship education. This research explores both the entrepreneurial marketing and the entrepreneurship literature to capture how they meet at the interface to solve the issue of appropriately marketing entrepreneurship courses within the context of university education. Whilst empirical evidence of entrepreneurial marketing has tended to concentrate on profit-making and small organizations, fewer studies have sought to understand the role of entrepreneurial marketing in public sector organizations, including the university. Although this article is exploratory in nature, it shows the benefits of utilizing the extensive research within the fields of entrepreneurial marketing and entrepreneurship to determine the value of entrepreneurship education for policymakers, universities and students.


Proceedings: AACR 104th Annual Meeting 2013; Apr 6-10, 2013; Washington, DC

Introduction: Circulating tumor cells (CTC) measured with the CellSearch system in patients with metastatic carcinomas are associated with poor survival. The CellSearch system uses immunomagnetic enrichment targeting the EpCAM antigen. A frequently raised question is what the frequency and significance is of CTC that do not express EpCAM within the CTC of the individual patient and between different patients. To investigate this, a device was constructed that collects the blood discarded by the CellSearch system and passes the blood through micro sieves with 5um pores to enrich for the larger CTC.

Methods: A sample collection device was attached to the waste line of the CellTracks Autoprep (AP). The blood discarded after immunomagnetic separation was detected in the waste line and collected into a separate 50ml conical tube for each patient sample. After collection, the blood was filtered through microfabricated silicon nitride filters with pore diameters of 5 micrometer (Aquamarijn, Zutphen, The Netherlands) with a pressure below 40mbar. To evaluate recovery on the filter the COLO320(median size 11μm), SKBR3(16μm) and T24(16μm) cell lines where used. To evaluate recovery from the AP waste the SKBR3(445000 EpCAM antigens) and T24(2167 EpCAM antigens) cell lines where used. 300 cells where spiked in 7.5ml of blood collected in CellSave tubes from healthy volunteers. All samples were processed the day after collection.

Results: The average recovery on filter from whole blood is 29% for COLO320 and ≥80% for SKBR3 and T24. The average recovery of the SKBR3 cell line with the CellSearch system is 91% and 5% are recovered from the AP waste using filtration. In contrast, the average recovery of T24 cell line with the CellSearch system is only 30% but 51% are recovered from the AP waste after filtration. The carryover between spiked and unspiked samples collected from the AP waste was <1.3% of the spiked cells for unspiked samples with a mean of 0.9%.

Conclusions: We present a method and device that enables the identification and characterization of CTC not detected by the CellSearch system which allows a systematic evaluation of the clinical relevance of these CTC.

Citation Format: Guus van Dalum, Aufried T.M. Lenferink, Leon W.M.M. Terstappen. Detection of EpCAM negative circulating tumor cells in CellSearch waste. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1459. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-1459


Pumped storage projects, like all other projects, are analyzed by comparing the total system costs for a system including the pumped storage project and for a system including an alternative. All possible alternatives must be considered. The alternatives must provide capacity such that the level of risk of failure to meet load demands is the same as that of the system including the proposed project. All other factors must be consistent for the proposal and its alternative. The timing of a pumped storage project requires examination, because the percentage of peaking capacity in a given system has a marked effect on the required reservoir size and on the energy penalties associated with pumped storage. Problems of timing are inter-related with changes in the size of the system within which the pumped storage facility will be used, but such changes require recognition of transmission costs and of the competition of other peaking facilities.


Polypeptides having secondary structures often undergo self-assembly which can extend over multiple length scales. Poly(γ-benzyl-L-glutamate) (PBLG), for example, folds into α-helices and forms physical organogels, whereas poly(L-glutamic acid) (PLGA at acidic pH) or poly(L-glutamate) (PLG at neutral/basic pH) do not form hydrogels. We explored the gelation of modified PBLG and investigated the deprotection of the carboxylic acid moieties in such gels to yield unique hydrogels. This was accomplished through photo-crosslinking gelation of poly(γ-benzyl-L-glutamate-co-allylglycine) statistical copolymers in toluene, tetrahydrofuran, and 1,4-dioxane. Unlike most polymer-based chemical gels, our gels were prepared from dilute solutions (<20 g L−1, i.e., <2% w/v) of low molar mass polymers. Despite such low concentrations and molar masses, our dioxane gels showed high mechanical stability and little shrinkage; remarkably, they also exhibited a porous fibrillar network. Deprotection of the carboxylic acid moieties in dioxane gels yielded pH responsive and highly absorbent PLGA/PLG-based hydrogels (swelling ratio of up to 87), while preserving the network structure, which is an unprecedented feature in the context of crosslinked PLGA gels. These outstanding properties are highly attractive for biomedical materials.


Given nominal exchange rates and price data on N + 1 countries indexed by i = 0,1,2,…, N, the standard procedure for testing purchasing power parity (PPP) is to apply unit root or stationarity tests to N real exchange rates all measured relative to a base country, 0, often taken to be the U.S. Such a procedure is sensitive to the choice of base country, ignores the information in all the other cross-rates and is subject to a high degree of cross-section dependence which has adverse effects on estimation and inference. In this article, we conduct a variety of unit root tests on all possible N(N + 1)/2 real rates between pairs of the N + 1 countries and estimate the proportion of the pairs that are stationary. This proportion can be consistently estimated even in the presence of cross-section dependence. We estimate this proportion using quarterly data on the real exchange rate for 50 countries over the period 1957–2001. The main substantive conclusion is that to reject the null of no adjustment to PPP requires sufficiently large disequilibria to move the real rate out of the band of inaction set by trade costs. In such cases, one can reject the null of no adjustment to PPP up to 90% of the time as compared to around 40% in the whole sample using a linear alternative and almost 60% using a nonlinear alternative.


The demand for bandwidth by multimedia applications remains unabated. This is particular critical given the growing number of devices with WiFi capability, and the ubiquity of Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs). These trends have spurred researchers to develop low-cost and backward compatible solutions to increase the capacity of WLANs. One approach is to deploy additional Access Points (APs), and strategies to manage channel, user, and transmit power. As a result, stations are likely to be near one or more APs, and therefore are more likely to experience high data rates. In this paper, we take advantage of this fact to increase the capacity of a dense WLAN further by transmitting packets to a station via a neighboring AP if its associated AP is occupied by another station. Our approach is novel as prior works have not exploited the density and diversity of APs when scheduling downstream traffic. From extensive simulation studies, we show its viability in varying traffic scenarios, and in particular, WLANs with a high number of APs.s.


Catholic Church sexual abuse cases have received worldwide attention, with investigations and many lawsuits reported in various countries. This study examines a procedure, a hybrid between tort litigation and a victims compensation fund, that not only allowed sexual abuse victims to seek monetary compensation on an individual basis, but also non-monetary relief that includes an apology, recognition, or measures against the accused. The availability of all decisions offers a unique opportunity to analyze what victims pursued by filing a claim, what they received, and what impacted the probability of victims obtaining non-monetary relief. After analyzing almost 1,000 decisions, this study exposes three threats to addressing victims' needs in a tort law and victims compensation funds context. First, a mismatch is found between what victims sought and what they were offered, suggesting that adjudicators ignored the non-monetary needs expressed by the victims. Second, offering or providing non-monetary relief proved to be detrimental to the defendant's case, which may discourage wrongdoers to offer non-monetary relief prior to the decision in ordinary tort law. Third, the results reveal that adding adversarial elements to a procedure reduces the likelihood of victims obtaining non-monetary relief. The findings suggest that designing a procedure that is intended to address victims' needs (monetary and non-monetary) may end up resembling ordinary tort law. This study demonstrates that tort law faces important challenges when addressing non-monetary needs of victims.


Aim: The aims of this study were to assess the prevalence of use and need for dental prostheses and to associate need with the life course determinants in young adults of age 18–35 years in Udupi taluk, Karnataka, India. Materials and Methods: It was a cross-sectional survey conducted on a total of 580 individuals those attended dental screening camps organized at random locations. A self-administered questionnaire was administered to participants to assess their life course determinants such as socioeconomic, behavioral, and psychological circumstances followed by an oral examination to assess their prosthetic status (WHO, 1997). Bivariate analysis followed by multivariate logistic regression analysis was carried out to determine the adjusted odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence interval (CI) for independent variables and the outcome. Results: The need and use of dental prostheses was observed in 38% and 2.2% of young adults, respectively. Adjusted multivariable analysis revealed that life course determinants such as parental rearing style (OR = 7.66 [95% CI: 3.88–15.14]) and interaction between expenditure at 10 years of age and economic hardships at 10 years of age (OR = 9.63 [95% CI: 3.12–29.72] and OR = 6.43 [95% CI: 1.89–21.88]) were significantly associated with the need for prostheses. Conclusion: The need for dental prostheses in the young adults can be related to socioeconomic and psychosocial circumstances during childhood, and thus the concept of life course approach has been highlighted.


Professor Richard (Rick) Sibson revolutionized structural geology by illustrating that fault rocks contain an integrated record of earthquakes. Fault-rock textures develop in response to geological and physical variables such as composition, environmental conditions (e.g. temperature and pressure), fluid presence and strain rate. These parameters also determine the rate- and state-variable frictional stability of a fault, the dominant mineral deformation mechanism and shear strength, and ultimately control the partitioning between seismic and aseismic deformation. This volume contains a collection of papers that address the geological record of earthquake faulting from field-based or theoretical perspectives. The papers cover observations in active fault zones, the relationships between fault rocks and fault-slip styles, interpretation of fault-rock textures from the base of the seismogenic zone, consideration of the effects of fluids on faulting, discussion of fault reactivation v. initiation, and a review of future directions in geological earthquake research by Professor Sibson.


The localization of radiative sources is very important in many fields of work such as: sonar, radar and underwater radar, indoor localization in wireless networks, earthquake epicenter localization, defective assets localization in electrical facilities and so forth. In the process of locating radiative sources exist many issues which can provoke errors in the localization. The signals acquired may belong to different sources or they can be mixed with environmental noise, then, their separation before using localization algorithms is of great interest to be efficient and accurate in the computational process. Furthermore, the geometry and radiation characteristics of the receivers, the nature of the signal or their measuring process may cause deviations in the signal onset calculus and therefore the source localization could be displaced from the actual position. In this thesis, there are three kinds of algorithms to undertake three steps in the emitter localization: signal separation, onset and time delay estimation of the signals and source localization. For each step, in order to reduce the error in the localization, several algorithms are analyzed and compared in each application, to choose the most reliable. As the first step, to separate different kinds of signals is of interest to facilitate further processing. In this thesis, different optimization techniques are presented over the power ratio (PR) maps method. The PR uses a selective spectral signal characterization to extract the features of the analyzed signals. The technique identifies automatically the most representative frequency bands which report a great separation of the different kinds of signals in the PR map. After separating and selecting the signals, it is of interest to compare the algorithms to calculate the onset and time delay of the pulsed signals to know their performance because the time variables are inputs to the most common triangulation algorithms to locate radiative and ultrasonic sources. An overview of the algorithms used to estimate the time of flight (ToF) and time differences of arrival (TDoA) of pulsed signals is done in this thesis. In the comparison, there is also a new algorithm based on statics of high order, which is proposed in this thesis. The survey of their performance is done applied to muscle deep estimation, localization in one dimension (1D), and for the localization of emitters in three dimensions (3D). The results show how the presented algorithm yields great results. As the last step in the radiative source localization, the formulation and principle of work of both iterative and non-iterative triangulation algorithms are presented. A new algorithm is presented as a combination of two already existing improving their performance when working alone. All the algorithms, the proposed and the previous which already exist, are compared in terms of accuracy and computational time. The proposed algorithm reports good results in terms of accuracy and it is one of the fastest in computational time. Once the localization is achieved, it is of great interest to understand how the errors in the determination of the onset of the signals are propagated in the emitter localization. The triangulation algorithms estimate the radiative source position using time variables as inputs: ToF, TDoA or pseudo time of flight (pToF) and the receiver positions. The propagation of the errors in the time variables to the radiative source localization is done in two dimensions (2D) and 3D. New spherical diagrams have been created to represent the directions where the localization is more or less sensible to the errors. This study and their sphere diagrams are presented for several antenna layouts. Finally, how the errors in the positioning of the receivers are propagated to the emitter localization is analyzed. In this study, the effect in the propagation of both the relative distance from the receivers to the emitter and the direction between them has been characterized. The propagation of the error considering the direction is also represented in spherical diagrams. For a preferred direction identified in the spheres, the propagated error in the source localization has been quantified regarding both the source distance and the magnitude of the errors in the receivers positioning.


This paper analyzes the factors influencing whether countries become tax havens. Roughly 15% of countries are tax havens; as has been widely observed, these countries tend to be small and affluent. This paper documents another robust empirical regularity: better-governed countries are much more likely than others to become tax havens. Controlling for other relevant factors, governance quality has a statistically significant and quantitatively large association with the probability of being a tax haven. For a typical country with a population under one million, the likelihood of a becoming a tax haven rises from 26% to 61% as governance quality improves from the level of Brazil to that of Portugal. Evidence from US firms suggests that low tax rates offer much more powerful inducements to foreign investment in well-governed countries than do low tax rates elsewhere. This may explain why poorly-governed countries do not generally attempt to become tax havens, and suggests that the range of sensible tax policy options is constrained by the quality of governance.


The purpose of this research study was to examine the influence of Therapeutic Listening® Quickshift on the bilateral coordination of healthy adults with no history of developmental or motor delays. Additional studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of the Therapeutic Listening® modality using measurable outcomes are necessary as many therapists currently use this program, even though few studies prove its effectiveness. This study recruited 14 freshman and sophomore students aged 18-21 years. Seven participants received Therapeutic Listening® Quickshift intervention one time for 20 minutes and seven received no intervention, but instead listened to white noise for the same duration. The participants received the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency, Second Edition (BOT-2) bilateral coordination subsection before and after either the white noise or Therapeutic Listening® Quickshift protocol. Results demonstrated a slightly greater increase in scores for those who received the Therapeutic Listening® Quickshift intervention, however this difference was not statistically significant. Additionally, many participants received the maximum score on the pre-test and had no room for improvement on the post-test. This study was likely underpowered and the BOT-2 bilateral coordination subsection was not sensitive enough to measure change in a healthy, adult population. More sensitive assessment tools are needed to support future research in order to prove effectiveness of interventions through measurable outcomes that further evidence based practice in occupational therapy.


Vol. 7, No. 3 Supplement, June 2001 Emerging Infectious Diseases 541 Henry Masur, from the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, discussed the changing nature of opportunistic infections (OIs) in HIV-infected persons in the United States in light of the use of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). While the incidence of nearly all OIs has decreased since 1996, several AIDS-related malignancies have maintained stable incidence rates and will likely assume greater importance. Complications resulting from infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) will become more prevalent, since as many as 30% of HIV-infected persons are coinfected with HCV. Several "reconstitution syndromes," illnesses attributed to improved T-cell immunity, have been described as unusual manifestations of OI in the first few weeks following initiation of HAART. Antimicrobial resistance is an increasing problem for bacterial and fungal OIs and threatens to diminish the efficacy of trimethoprimsulfamethoxazole against Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, although evidence of this effect is incomplete at present. OIs also occur because many persons remain undiagnosed with HIV and therefore do not receive appropriate prophylaxis against OIs. The fact that only a minority of persons receiving HAART maintain undetectable virus levels for a sustained period suggests that HAART will not be effective in many of these patients and that OIs will increase in incidence. Thira Sirisanthana, from the Chiang Mai Medical School, Chiang Mai, Thailand, discussed the importance of Penicillium marneffei (PM) infection among HIV-infected persons in Southeast Asia. Please see "Penicillium marneffei Infection in Patients with AIDS" on page 561 for a more detailed discussion of this topic. Mark Russo, from Cornell University Medical College, New York, New York reviewed the consequences of HCV infection in recipients of solid organ transplants. Approximately 21,000 solid organ transplants are performed each year in the United States, and that number is increasing. In liver transplantation, persons who receive transplants to treat liver disease due to chronic hepatitis C may have lower graft survival, and retransplantation rates may be as high as 20%. Treatment of hepatitis C with interferon after liver transplantation has been disappointing, but new formulations and combination therapy with ribavirin may lead to increased efficacy. The use of hepatitis C–positive organs in hepatitis C–infected recipients is being explored. A small study of patients with chronic hepatitis C undergoing liver transplantation showed increased graft survival in those who received a hepatitis C–positive liver, compared with those who received a hepatitis C–negative liver. Chronic hepatitis C infection is a health care problem in recipients of organs other than the liver, such as kidney transplants. Although short-term studies of less than 5 years demonstrate no difference in liver-related illness and death between kidney transplant recipients with chronic hepatitis C and those without infection, long-term studies of 10 years or more show higher illness and death rates from liver disease in HCV-infected recipients. Less is known about the effect of chronic hepatitis C in heart or lung transplant recipients, but up to 10% of recipients are hepatitis C–positive. Outcomes in recipients of these organs and the role of treatment needs to be further defined. Louisa Chapman, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, spoke on xenotransplantation and xenogeneic infections. Please see "Xenotransplantation: Benefits and Risks" on page 545 for a more detailed article on this portion of the panel. Opportunistic Infections in Persons with HIV or Other Immunocompromising Conditions


Undirected graphical models, such as Gaussian graphical models, Ising, and multinomial/categorical graphical models, are widely used in a variety of applications for modeling distributions over a large number of variables. These standard instances, however, are ill-suited to modeling count data, which are increasingly ubiquitous in big-data settings such as genomic sequencing data, user-ratings data, spatial incidence data, climate studies, and site visits. Existing classes of Poisson graphical models, which arise as the joint distributions that correspond to Poisson distributed node-conditional distributions, have a major drawback: they can only model negative conditional dependencies for reasons of normalizability given its infinite domain. In this paper, our objective is to modify the Poisson graphical model distribution so that it can capture a rich dependence structure between count-valued variables. We begin by discussing two strategies for truncating the Poisson distribution and show that only one of these leads to a valid joint distribution. While this model can accommodate a wider range of conditional dependencies, some limitations still remain. To address this, we investigate two additional novel variants of the Poisson distribution and their corresponding joint graphical model distributions. Our three novel approaches provide classes of Poisson-like graphical models that can capture both positive and negative conditional dependencies between count-valued variables. One can learn the graph structure of our models via penalized neighborhood selection, and we demonstrate the performance of our methods by learning simulated networks as well as a network from microRNA-sequencing data.


In this paper, we study the secure routing for cluster-based sensor networks where clusters are formed dynamically and periodically. We point out the deficiency in the secure routing protocols with symmetric key pairing. Along with the investigation of ID-based cryptography for security in WSNs, we propose a new secure routing protocol with ID-based signature scheme for cluster-based WSNs, in which the security relies on the hardness of the Diffie-Hellman problem in the random oracle model. Because of the communication overhead for security, we provide analysis and simulation results in details to illustrate how various parameters act between security and energy efficiency.


In this study, characterization of the porosity, carbon bonding, and reactivity of coke analog materials prepared with and without metallic iron has been carried out. The porosity of the analog is well controlled, reproducible, and typical of a metallurgical coke. Using Raman spectroscopy, the coke analog carbon bonding is a combination of sp2 and sp3–sp2 bonding types and the values overlapped with those reported for metallurgical coke. It has been widely reported that metallic iron increases graphitization (increases sp2 bonding) of metallurgical coke. This has been replicated in the coke analog and shown to principally occur at the metallic iron–coke analog interface and not throughout the bulk of the coke analog. The reaction of coke analog containing metallic iron with CO2 has been evaluated using thermogravimetric analysis over the temperature range 1173–1623 K. It has been found that the coke analog containing metallic iron displayed similar, but faster reaction behavior to coke analog with no metallic iron.


Sufficient water supply is a vital process throughout the growth stages in all plants including paddy. Even though Malaysia has an annual rainfall around 2600 millimetres, which is above the global average, the distributions of rainfall are uneven which causes certain areas to face limited water supply. In addition to that, seasonal monsoons also affect the pattern of rainfall which leads to dry and wet season. Therefore, an alternative reliable resource of groundwater needs to be investigated with the aim of supplying water continuously over the years. Thus, identifying potential groundwater that can be extracted to irrigate the paddy field area is crucial. In this study, an approach of geophysical technique; 2D resistivity survey was applied. 2D resistivity survey was conducted to result a resistivity profile or familiarly called electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) which represents the subsurface media using RES2DINV software. Wenner-Schlumberger array and a layout of 5 metres electrode spacing for inner and 10 metres for outer cable were employed in all surveys of this study. The resistivity profiles of this study consist of three major lines and six minor lines. Each major line was formed from 7 surveys of 400 metres in length, which made up to 1.6 km after overlapping at 200 metres. SURFER software was used to create this major line resistivity profile. While minor line was made from a single survey of 400metre in length perpendicular to major lines at field. Using the ERT of major and minor lines, one can spot that there are few potential groundwater aquifer located throughout the profiles. Potential aquifer of resistivity profiles were identified based on comparison of geological log to resistivity survey made at that particular well location. The potential groundwater was acknowledged to be in the sand layer which ranges between 50 to 250 Ωm. There were five potential aquifer locations being pointed out at major lines and two at minor lines as on water quantity basis. The resistivity data with x-location of SURFER were later replaced by easting and northing data taken from the topography data using RTK GPS. A 3D skeleton model view of the groundwater potential aquifer at Block C Sawah Sempadan was created. This model shows the location of potential water aquifer spotted at the study area. The development of 3D model view of subsurface profile for selected field will act as reference for further study especially in developing wells in extracting groundwater that is needed to be supplied as irrigation water to the field.


We give a long overdue theory of orientations of G-vector bundles, topological G-bundles, and spherical G-fibrations, where G is a compact Lie group. The notion of equivariant orientability is clear and unambiguous, but it is surprisingly difficult to obtain a satisfactory notion of an equivariant orientation such that every orientable G-vector bundle admits an orientation. Our focus here is on the geometric and homotopical aspects, rather than the coho-mological aspects, of orientation theory. Orientations are described in terms of functors defined on equivariant fundamental groupoids of base G-spaces, and the essence of the theory is to construct an appropriate universal target category of G-vector bundles over orbit spaces G/H. The theory requires new categorical concepts and constructions that should be of interest in other subjects where analogous structures arise.


The interrelationships between the Macao developmental state, casino capitalism and casino crime are complex. In order to control organized crime penetration into casinos, the Macao developmental state in 2002 liberalized and internationalized the casino sector. Since 2002, however, various types of crimes have emerged inside and outside Macao's casinos. While casino capitalism has generated huge public revenues for the government, created employment opportunities for citizens, and stimulated local economic growth, it has also delegitimized the developmental state to some extent by producing various criminal activities, by bringing about addictive gambling, by providing more opportunities for mainland Chinese citizens and officials to gamble heavily, and by plunging Macao into an over-dependency on casinos-driven development. In response, the central government in Beijing and the Macao developmental state have jointly tackled the negative and unintended consequences of casino capitalism in a proactive and preemptive manner. Beijing tightened its control over mainlanders' visits to Macao in mid-2008, but it quickly relaxed the policy in fear of a decline in casino revenues and capitalism in the Special Administrative Region. On the other hand, the Macao developmental state has taken social measures to address the income gap between the rich and the poor, experimented with economic diversification in an attempt to reduce its dependency on casino capitalism, and implemented the emphasis on "responsible gaming" to tackle any detrimental impacts of casino capitalism on the society. In brief, the developmental state in Macao utilizes casino capitalism to accelerate the development of its productive forces, but the negative impacts of casino capitalism have propelled the developmental state to be more regulatory and socially interventionist for the sake of maintaining its legitimacy. The interrelationships between casino capitalism and the Macao developmental state are clearly both dynamic and responsive.


At Google we have found tens of thousands of security and robustness bugs by fuzzing C and C++ libraries. To fuzz a library, a fuzzer requires a fuzz driver—which exercises some library code—to which it can pass inputs. Unfortunately, writing fuzz drivers remains a primarily manual exercise, a major hindrance to the widespread adoption of fuzzing. In this paper, we address this major hindrance by introducing the Fudge system for automated fuzz driver generation. Fudge automatically generates fuzz driver candidates for libraries based on existing client code. We have used Fudge to generate thousands of new drivers for a wide variety of libraries. Each generated driver includes a synthesized C/C++ program and a corresponding build script, and is automatically analyzed for quality. Developers have integrated over 200 of these generated drivers into continuous fuzzing services and have committed to address reported security bugs. Further, several of these fuzz drivers have been upstreamed to open source projects and integrated into the OSS-Fuzz fuzzing infrastructure. Running these fuzz drivers has resulted in over 150 bug fixes, including the elimination of numerous exploitable security vulnerabilities.


We report on a three-dimensional MHD numerical experiment of a small-scale coronal mass ejection (CME)-like eruption propagating though a nonmagnetized solar atmosphere. We find that the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability (KHI) develops at various but specific locations at the boundary layer between the erupting field and the background atmosphere, depending on the relative angle between the velocity and magnetic field. KHI develops at the front and at two of the four sides of the eruption. KHI is suppressed at the other two sides of the eruption. We also find the development of Alfvénic vortex shedding flows at the wake of the developing CME due to the 3D geometry of the field. Forward modeling reveals that the observational detectability of the KHI in solar eruptions is confined to a narrow ≈10° range when observing off-limb, and therefore its occurrence could be underestimated due to projection effects. The new findings can have significant implications for observations, for heating, and for particle acceleration by turbulence from flow-driven instabilities associated with solar eruptions of all scales.


View-invariant object representations created from feature pooling networks have been widely adopted in state-of-the-art visual recognition systems. Recently, the research community seeks to improve these view-invariant representations further by additional invariance and receptive field learning, or by taking on the challenge of processing massive amounts of learning data. In this paper we consider an alternate strategy of directly modeling complex invariances of object features. While this may sound like a naive and inferior approach, our experiments show that this approach can achieve competitive and state-of-the-art accuracy on visual recognition data sets such as CIFAR-10 and STL-10. We present an highly applicable dictionary learning algorithm on complex invariances that can be used in most feature pooling network settings. It also has the merits of simplicity and requires no additional tuning. We also discuss the implication of our experiment results concerning recent observations on the usefulness of pre-trained features, and the role of direct invariance modeling in invariance learning.


Feelings-talk is considered an important interaction type in many helping professions as the 'helping' element often involves various forms of engagement in emotional work. In this chapter we identify and critically assess the interactional forms and functions of feelings-talk in Relationship-focused Integrative Psychotherapy and Emotional Intelligentes Coaching. By adopting methods and insights from Conversation Analysis, (Critical) Discourse Analysis and Interactional Sociolinguistics, we demonstrate how the endemic feature of psychotherapy, i.e. feelings-talk, emerges as an interactionally accomplished project as psychotherapist and clients work through the clients' personal issues. We then show how the interactional context of executive coaching both relies on, and further extends, the psychotherapeutic feelings-talk strategies to address clients' professional dilemmas. Besides emancipatory goals such as fostering clients' self-enhancement, clients' emotions are thereby partly functionalized for organizational goals. Feelings-talk can thus be regarded as a constitutive feature of both helping professional formats addressed in this paper, yet with different professional goals.


In the 80's, almost all the GaAs IC companies offered on a commercial basis to fabricate prototype MMIC's designed or not by the customer himself into the foundry proprietary processes. Most of the leading GaAs IC companies have today discontinued their foundry service to focus on large volume production of standard parts like power amplifiers for mobilecom terminals. However the traditional custom foundry business is well alive and kicking and will reach 250 MEuros in 2000 representing 20 % of the total GaAs MMIC market. It is no longer limited to prototyping but also includes small to medium volume production of customer specific ICs (CSICs). The various GaAs custom foundry services are reviewed in detail including process guarantees, CAD support and the "known good die" issue. The economics of a GaAs foundry service is revisited and a business perspective for the coming years is given.


Estimating the distribution of phenotypes in populations and communities
is central to many questions in ecology and evolutionary biology. These
distributions can be characterized by their moments: the mean, variance,
skewness, and kurtosis. Typically, these moments are calculated using a
community-weighted approach (e.g. community-weighted mean) which ignores
intraspecific variation. As an alternative, bootstrapping approaches can
incorporate intraspecific variation to improve estimates, and also
quantify uncertainty in the estimate. Here, we compare the performance
of different approaches for estimating the moments of trait
distributions across a variety of sampling scenarios, taxa, and
datasets. We introduce the traitstrap R package to facilitate inferences
of trait distributions via bootstrapping. Our results suggest that
randomly sampling ~9 individuals per sampling unit and
species, focusing on covering all species in the community, and
analysing the data using nonparametric bootstrapping generally enables
reliable inference on trait distributions, including the central
moments, of communities.


This book addresses issues to do with public accountability, audit and performance measurement that are both highly topical and of crucial importance to the theory and practice of public administration in an era of contractualized public management. The literature on public sector contracting - covering both 'hard' agreements (ones that are legally enforceable) and 'soft' agreements (enforced by negotiation and mutual trust) - has been growing for some time and the present book adds a primarily European perspective on contracting, performance-based management and accountability. One important aspect of this study is its recognition that those responsible for monitoring public services, and holding them to account, have had - to an increasing extent - to reconcile tensions between, on the one hand, the need for strong oversight and, on the other, the encouragement of innovation and risk in an increasingly competitive and entrepreneurial public service culture. Following an introductory overview by the three editors the book is in three parts. The first part deals with the theory and practice of performance measurement and evaluation; the second part provides a series of specific case studies of audit and accountability in a variety of countries and contexts; the third part offers some wider, cross-cutting perspectives. Based on the work of the EGPA permanent study group on the history of contractualization, Contracts, Performance Measurement and Accountability in the Public Sector draws upon the wide expertise and research interests of academics and practitioners from the United Kingdom, Denmark, Switzerland, Belgium, Sweden and the USA.


Introduction: Germline mutations in predisposing genes have been found in 30-40% of pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma patients. Screening for inherited genetic mutations provide clinicians with mutation-positive patient management strategies in addition to identifying family members at risk of disease. However, genetic testing for pheochromocytoma has not been performed widely in Vietnam.

Methods: Seven patients diagnosed with pheochromocytoma in Vietnam underwent germline genetic testing in known pheochromocytoma-associated genes by direct sequencing. When a germline mutation was identified the first-degree relatives were counseled and offered genetic testing for the inherited mutation.

Results: Mutations were found in five of seven cases and all mutations were in RET proto-oncogene codon 634 indicating a high risk of developing aggressive medullary thyroid cancer and in some cases leading to prophylactic thyroidectomy as recommended.

Conclusions: Genetic testing plays an essential role in the clinical management of pheochromocytoma patients. Genetic results have significantly changed the clinical approach in these patients and identified 'at risk' family members.


Extracting discriminative and robust features from video sequences is the first and most critical step in human action recognition. In this paper, instead of using handcrafted features, we automatically learn spatio-temporal motion features for action recognition. This is achieved via an evolutionary method, i.e., genetic programming (GP), which evolves the motion feature descriptor on a population of primitive 3D operators (e.g., 3D-Gabor and wavelet). In this way, the scale and shift invariant features can be effectively extracted from both color and optical flow sequences. We intend to learn data adaptive descriptors for different datasets with multiple layers, which makes fully use of the knowledge to mimic the physical structure of the human visual cortex for action recognition and simultaneously reduce the GP searching space to effectively accelerate the convergence of optimal solutions. In our evolutionary architecture, the average cross-validation classification error, which is calculated by an support-vector-machine classifier on the training set, is adopted as the evaluation criterion for the GP fitness function. After the entire evolution procedure finishes, the best-so-far solution selected by GP is regarded as the (near-)optimal action descriptor obtained. The GP-evolving feature extraction method is evaluated on four popular action datasets, namely KTH, HMDB51, UCF YouTube, and Hollywood2. Experimental results show that our method significantly outperforms other types of features, either hand-designed or machine-learned.


A platinum coated singlemode-multimode (SM) structure is investigated in this paper as an optical fibre sensor (OFS) to monitor the phase transition of a phase change material (PCM). Paraffin wax has been used as an example to demonstrate the sensor's performance and operation. Most materials have the same temperature but different thermal energy levels during the phase change process, therefore, sole dependency on temperature measurement may lead to an incorrect estimation of the stored energy in PCM. The output spectrum of the reflected light from the OFS is very sensitive to the bend introduced by the PCM where both liquid and solid states exist during the phase transition. The measurement of strain experienced by the OFS during the phase change of the PCM is utilized for identifying the phase transition of paraffin wax between the solid and liquid states. The experimental results presented in this paper show that the OFS with a shorter multimode fibre section has better performance for monitoring the phase transition of paraffin wax with a measured phase transition temperature range of 41.5 °C–57.7 °C for the SM based OFS with a 5 mm long multimode fibre section.


It's a story everyone thinks they know about the young boy from the back streets of Belfast who grew up to be the most famous footballer in the world, a legend who was the first superstar of the sport but whose troubled personal life, as much as his sporting genius, came to dominate the headlines. But Barbara and Carol, George's sisters, and Dickie, his father, know more. Our George reveals for the first time the real story of George Best as told by those who knew him best and loved him most. It's the inside story of the ordinary Belfast family whose love for, and contact with, their famous son and brother never wavered through the years. It's the story of a family desperately helping him as he battled the illness that also claimed the life of their beloved wife and mother. Our George is a searingly honest book about the influences that moulded the legend and the demons that haunted his life. Speaking for the first time, the intensely private Best family reveals how George really felt about the people and the events that shaped his life. Barbara Best is frank in confronting George's own failings and those of some of the people who were close to him, as well as offering a unique perspective on the many pressures to which he was subject. Our George is illustrated with a wealth of previously unseen family photographs, documents and correspondence (much of it deeply poignant) between George and his family.


Marx and Nietzsche are often compared as practitioners of a hermeneutic of suspicion. I pursue this comparison by focusing on an overlooked similarity between the two. In strangely similar passages, Marx (in Capital) and Nietzsche (in the Genealogy of Morals) introduce explicitly theatrical scenarios into the course of their discussions, complete with what Marx calls dramatis personae, where we witness a descent into a workshop (in some sense underground) in order to learn the secrets of production—the production, in both cases, of value. But neither scenario conforms to the structure of the discovery of a concealed truth—in fact, each challenges this structure directly. By looking at the specific nature of these theatrical descents, we can come to a better understanding of the task of the philosopher in both Nietzsche and Marx, as well as the distinctive position of historical knowledge within a hermeneutics of suspicion.


Internationalisation has become a central feature of academic careers as academics are increasingly expected to be mobile. Yet, we still know relatively little about the actual patterns and drivers of academic mobility across space and time. Using unique data from a recent survey of around 4,600 Indian academics across the globe, this article examines the dynamics of international academic mobility among one of the largest global academic diasporas. Overall, we find a strong "path dependence" for academic career and mobility trajectories, demonstrating the considerable importance of prior career steps in shaping future mobility choices. Working abroad as an academic, particularly in an Anglo-Saxon destination, becomes very unlikely without some early international study experience. However, contextual and individual-level factors may moderate this path dependence. Younger generations of Indian researchers, men, high-performing students, and those with (Indian) degrees that are more valued internationally, have higher chances of breaking the path. In addition, socioeconomic background seems to be an important driver for early career and mobility steps but becomes much less relevant for later academic employment.


In our talk we present an algorithm for determining initial bound for the Branch and Bound (B&B) method. The idea of the algorithm is based on the use of the "ray" introduced in the "ray-method" developed for solving integer programming problems [13], [14]. Instead of solving a common integer programming problem we use the main idea of the ray-method to find an integer feasible solution of integer linear programming (ILP) problem along the ray as close to optimal solution of relaxation problem, as possible. Objective value obtained in this way may be used as an initial bound for B&B method. The algorithm has been implemented in the frame of educational package WinGULF [3] for linear and linear-fractional programming and has been tested on various ILP problems. Then inspired by the results obtained we implemented the method using the so-called callable library of CPLEX package by IBM. Computational experiments with the algorithm proposed show that such preprocessing procedure in many cases results an integer feasible solution very close to the solution of relaxation problem. Initial bound for branch and bound method determined in this way often can significantly decrease the size of the binary tree to be searched and in this manner can improve performance of the B&B method.


The Bigstick and Seward Sand Hills are possibly two of the oldest dune fields within the late Wisconsin glaciated regions of the Northern Great Plains. As with most Northern Great Plains dune fields, source sediments are former proglacial outwash sands. Thus, Holocene dune construction is primarily related to spatial–temporal variations in surface cover and transport capacity, rather than renewed sediment input. However, eolian landscape reconstructions on the Northern Great Plains have been temporally constrained to recent periods of activity, as older episodes of deposition are typically reworked by younger events. In this study, sediment cores from shallow lacustrine basins and interdune areas provide an improved record of Holocene eolian sand deposition. Eolian sand accumulation in the interdunes and basins occurred between 150 and 270 years ago, 1.9 and 3.0 ka, 5.4 and 8.6 ka, and prior to ca. 10.8 ka. These episodes of sand accumulation were bracketed by lacustrine deposition and soil formation, which represented wetter conditions. Other than mid-Holocene dune activity, which may be related to peak warmth and aridity, most periods of eolian sand accumulation coincided with cooler but drier climatic events such as the Younger Dryas, late-Holocene cooling prior to the Medieval Climatic Anomaly, and the 'Little Ice Age'. These depositional episodes are also spatially represented by other dune fields in the region, providing a broad-scale view of the connections between past climatic events and eolian landscape evolution on the Northern Great Plains.


This paper connects research that explores arts-based organisational initiatives with the theory and practice of change management. It synthesises arts and management concepts that relate to change communications with a specific focus on workarts. It suggests that arts and visual-based communication can act as a form of knowledge translation and sensemaking helping organisations to embed the change process. In particular, it argues that public relations can be explored as translational practice a term that is now seen to be travelling as suggested by Bachmann-Medick (2009) from pure Translation Studies into other discipline areas and first articulated in an organisational change context by Czarniawska-Joerges and Sevon (1996).

It asks three key questions:
• Can visual communication be better used to help embed the change process
• How does the specific concept of workarts contribute to sensemaking and change
• What value is the concept of knowledge translation to public relations and internal communications specifically

The research reflects on how Orbit Housing, one of the UK's leading housing associations, integrated the concept of visual communications and workarts into their reorganisation and cultural change initiatives between 2010 and 2013. Orbit operates in the Midlands, East and South East England and parts of London and is responsible for providing and servicing a range of social housing stock. It currently employs around 1500 people. In the last few years, the social housing sector has been impacted by two key concerns: firstly, some housing commentators and policy makers view housing associations as part of the problem not part of the solution to solving the lack of affordable housing in the UK; and secondly the reduction in government funding to the sector. This prompted Orbit to transform the way it approached its business with a focus on providing better housing choices and building communities. This needed to be underpinned by a dynamic internal culture driven by putting Orbit customers at the heart of decision making, maximizing efficiency and better using resources through a more commercial approach.

The study takes a phenomenological exploratory case study approach through interviews to understand the impact that participatory workarts can have on the change communication process. Such an approach allows the gathering of rich data and the exploration of employees as social actors in the change process. The paper presents a model for integrating workarts into change programmes and how it contributes to effective change communication processes releasing employee commitment and engagement. The limitations of this study are related to the scope of the research – a UK-focused case study. Further studies in different cultural contexts need to be explored and perhaps longitudinal studies developed to look at longer-term impacts of participatory workers

This research is relevant from three perspectives. Firstly, change management is now seen as a critical communications and senior management skill (Cornelissen, 2011; Quirke, 2008). It is important that research continues to provide additional insight and evidences to help communicators and senior management teams deliver organisational change effectively. In many respects in builds on the work of van Vuuren and Elving (2008) who suggest that communication, sense making and change are interconnected.

Secondly, by integrating and synthesising scholarship from different fields of study the concept of change can be explored from an interdisciplinary perspective providing fresh insights.

Thirdly, idea of communication as a form of knowledge translation is under-explored in public relations, internal communication and employee engagement literature and this paper hopes to contribute to filling this gap.

Taken together, this paper aims to bring fresh conceptual and contemporary insights to the subject of change communications and provides practical applications.


When considering problematic workplace relationships, the question naturally arises of how people can deal most effectively with these challenges. What people most want with difficult relationships is a way to make the problems go away. That desire calls for research on strategies to transform problematic relationships into nonproblematic relations. For this issue, there is both good news and bad news. First, the bad news: There are few easy answers when dealing with problematic relations. Problematic relationships are difficult by definition. Relationships that involve challenges a person can easily resolve are not difficult relationships. The co-construction of these relationships often intertwines the weaknesses of both individuals. Given the infinite array of the resulting constructions, there are few actions that will improve every difficult relationship. Communication that makes one relationship less problematic might have no effect on another, or it could even inflame the problems. Thus, effective communicative responses to problematic relationships must be tailored to each individual case. Persons seeking a simple and universal fix are bound to be disappointed. Now the good news: The variety of causes and difficult nature of these relationships do not preclude research generating insights into their resolution. An examination of problematic workplace relationships can offer essential background to help guide the improvement of almost any difficult relationship. Even though optimal responses vary across relationships, we can still craft useful strategies for identifying problematic issues and responding to them. And, despite the need to adapt communicative strategies to the specific people and situation involved, some behaviors may be documented to have fairly widespread utility. Research can identify those communicative approaches that seem applicable to a wide range of problematic relationships. This chapter explores the experiences of working professionals who have wrestled with difficult relationships, sometimes seeing those relationships improve, sometimes finding no relief to the challenges of those relationships. Their stories offer useful insights into how people can communicate most effectively in the workplace when relationships become problematic. Disciplines Communication | Interpersonal and Small Group Communication | Organizational Communication | Other Communication Comments Permission documentation is on file. This book chapter is available at eCommons: http://ecommons.udayton.edu/cmm_fac_pub/5


Biomedical waste has become a serious health hazard in many countries, including India. Careless and indiscriminate disposal of this waste by healthcare establishments and research institutions can contribute to the spread of serious diseases such as hepatitis and AIDS (HIV) among those who handle it and also among the general public. The present study pertains to the biomedical waste management practices at Balrampur Hospital, a premier healthcare establishment in Lucknow, in North India. The study shows that infectious and non-infectious wastes are dumped together within the hospital premises, resulting in a mixing of the two, which are then disposed of with municipal waste at the dumping sites in the city. All types of wastes are collected in common bins placed outside the patients wards. For disposal of this waste the hospital depends on the generosity of the Lucknow Municipal Corporation, whose employees generally collect it every 2 or 3 days. The hospital does not have any treatment facility for infectious waste. The laboratory waste materials, which are disposed of directly into the municipal sewer without proper disinfection of pathogens, ultimately reach the Gomti River. All disposable plastic items are segregated by the rag pickers from the hospital as well as municipal bins and dumps. The waste is deposited either inside the hospital grounds, or outside in the community bin for further transportation and disposal along with municipal solid waste. The open dumping of the waste makes it freely accessible to rag pickers who become exposed to serious health hazards due to injuries from sharps, needles and other types of material used when giving injections. The results of the study demonstrate the need for strict enforcement of legal provisions and a better environmental management system for the disposal of biomedical waste in the Balrampur Hospital, as well as other healthcare establishments in Lucknow.


Oriented growth of thin films of covalent organic frameworks (COFs) has attracted significant interest as the anisotropically aligned channels provide ideal nanoscopic domains that can facilitate mass transport or charge percolation. Despite some experimental progress in achieving oriented COF thin films, little is known about the kinetics and thermodynamics associated with the orientation or control over the solution-based growth process. We performed a systematic study of the thin film growth of an imine-based COF as a function of concentration and growth time. Grazing incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering (GIWAXS) was used to reveal the orientation and evolution of crystallization within the thin films at sequential growth stages. An unusual re-entrant transition from an oriented to disoriented to reoriented state was discovered, which correlates with the kinetics associated with independent surface- and solution-based nucleation and growth processes, as well as reorganization of disoriented COF crystallites.


Biological factors of fertility were assessed through the study of litter quantity and quality, soil organic matter quantity and quality, soil microfauna, soil macrofauna, organic matter dynamic, particularly decomposition and non-symbiotic nitrogen fixation in an age series of Eucalyptus PFI and one stand of E. urograndis (E. urophylla x E. grandis). The litter system underwent drastic changes with plot age: litterfall was higher in the older plots than in the younger ones. Soluble carbon and lignin content decreased significantly with plot age and decomposition rate increased. Change in soil organic matter amount occurred in the top layer of soil only and increased with plot age. This enhanced cation exchange capacity. Increase in soil organic matter content was due to the light organic fraction (>0.05 mm), and the amount of C did not change in the organo-mineral fraction. Soil organic matter quality changed also, and the ON ratio increased with plot age. Evidence for N fixation was not observed. A drastic decrease in free living nematode density from savanna to young plantations was observed after which it increased slowly with plot age although in the 19-year-plots it was still about ten times lower than in savanna. The importance of Xiphinema parasetariae, a parasite of eucalypts, was confirmed. Its density increased markedly with plot age and the size of the patches where it occur-red increased. All soil macrofauna, earthworms, termites and litter inhabiting groups, except the ant group, increased in density with plot age. Termite density decreased in logged stands but no other measured parameters showed any significant difference between plantations and clear felled areas. The long-term effect of harvesting was observed mainly in the litter systems which appeared to be strongly disturbed by previous logging. Previous logging did not affect soil organic matter and nematode populations, either free living or plant parasitic. Soil macrofauna groups slightly increased after harvesting. Total phenolic compounds and fibre content were very different in leaf litter among clones and hybrids. (Resume d'auteur)


Human exposure to Gram-negative bacterial endotoxin can result in life-threatening conditions including sepsis and toxic shock syndrome. Given the importance of avoiding exposure to endotoxin, a sensitive test is required to ensure that medical devices and injectable medicines are not contaminated. Limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL), produced from the blood of horseshoe crabs, contains an endotoxin-sensing protein, Factor C, that initiates a coagulation cascade. This lysate is used to test for contamination of medical products, with formation of a clot indicating the presence of endotoxin in the sample.
Alternative methods to the LAL test have been explored to overcome problems with the test. These include the detrimental effects that harvesting has on the wild population of horseshoe crabs. More recently, tests relying on the direct detection of enzymatically active Factor C have been introduced, some of which utilize Factor C produced recombinantly. Despite the importance of Factor C to the health industries, no detailed explanation of its mechanism of endotoxin recognition has been published. The aim of this project was therefore to develop a better understanding of how Factor C is activated by endotoxin binding and to identify conformational changes that take place as a result.
Two main strategies were employed for structural characterisation and functional analysis of Factor C. First, fragments of Factor C protein were produced recombinantly in Escherichia coli to determine the structures of the individual domains and identify the endotoxin binding region more precisely. Second, expression of the whole Factor C protein in eukaryotic expression systems was attempted to produce material for experiments that would shed light on any overall conformational change that occurs.
Factor C fragments were successfully expressed in E. coli and purified. Circular dichroism spectroscopy identified that the majority of these fragments were folded, and changes in the spectra of some fragments in the presence of lipopolysaccharide identified potential binding sites. A preliminary structure of the first pair of complement control domains has been determined by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Comparison of this structure with other LPS binding proteins will pave the way for future work to characterise the endotoxin binding site of Factor C.


This Article examines the standard of scrutiny courts should apply when testing the validity of laws banning speech-based sexual orientation change efforts (SOCE) against First Amendment challenges. Justice Clarence Thomas's 2018 opinion for a five-justice conservative majority of the United States Supreme Court in National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra casts considerable doubt on whether a level of inquiry less stringent than strict scrutiny applies. The article analyzes how lower courts after Becerra that have reviewed anti-SOCE laws disagree on the issue. And yet, as the Article explains, the Supreme Court refuses to clarify the muddle. First, it declined in April 2019 to disturb a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit that adopted the relatively deferential intermediate scrutiny test to uphold New Jersey's anti-SOCE law. The Supreme Court then followed that up in May 2019 by dodging an opportunity to review a Ninth Circuit decision that applied mere rational basis review in upholding California's anti-SOCE statute. Resolving the scrutiny conundrum is imperative, as new anti-SOCE laws are being adopted nationwide. They, in turn, spawn lawsuits necessitating clear guidance from the Supreme Court if lower bodies are to adopt a predictable and consistent methodology. The Article concludes that anti-SOCE statutes provide a propitious opportunity for embracing Justice Stephen Breyer's proportionality approach rather than one of the three traditional standards of scrutiny.


Current processors provide a variety of different processing units to improve performance and power efficiency. For example, ARM'S big.LITTLE, AMD's APUs, and Oracle's M7 provide heterogeneous processors, on-die GPUs, and ondie accelerators. However, the performance experienced by programs on these accelerators can be highly variable due to issues like contention from multiprogramming or thermal constraints. In these systems, the decision of where to execute a task will have to consider not only stand-alone performance but also current system conditions and the program's performance goals such as throughput, latency or real-time deadlines. We built Proteus, a kernel extension and runtime library, to perform scheduling and handle task placement in such dynamic heterogeneous systems. Proteus enables programs to perform task placement decisions by choosing the right processing units with the libadept runtime, since programs are best suitable to determine how to achieve their performance goals. System conditions such as load on accelerators are exposed by the OpenKernel, the kernel component of Proteus, to the libadept enabling programs to make an informed decision. While placement is determined by libadept, the OpenKernel is also responsible for resource management including resource allocation and enforcing isolation among applications. When integrated with StarPU, a runtime system for heterogeneous architectures, Proteus improves StarPU by performing 1.5-2x better than its native scheduling policies in a shared heterogeneous environment.