The SecY protein of Escherichia coli and its homologues in other organisms, are integral components of the cellular protein translocation machinery. Suppressor mutations that alter SecY (the prlA alleles) broaden the specificity of this machinery and allow secretion of precursor proteins with defective signal sequences. Twenty‐five prlA alleles have been characterized. These suppressor mutations were found to cluster in regions corresponding to three distinct topological domains of SecY. Based on the nature and position of the prlA mutations, we propose that transmembrane domain 7 of SecY functions in signal sequence recognition. Results suggest that this interaction may involve a right‐handed supercoil of alpha‐helices. Suppressor mutations that alter this domain appear to prevent signal sequence recognition, and this novel mechanism of suppression suggests a proofreading function for SecY. We propose that suppressor mutations that alter a second domain of SecY, transmembrane helix 10, also affect this proof‐reading function, but indirectly. Based on the synthetic phenotypes exhibited by double mutants, we propose that these mutations strengthen the interaction with another component of the translocation machinery, SecE. Suppressor mutations were also found to cluster in a region corresponding to an amino‐terminal periplasmic domain. Possible explanations for this unexpected finding are discussed.


This study evaluated the antibacterial spectrum and safety of a chemically modified biopolymeric flocculant (TMB) against waterborne pathogens. The biopolymer previously characterized as polysaccharide with flocculating activity is produced extracellularly by the bacterium Klebsiella terrigena. The amino sugars on the polymer were chemically modified by quaternization, which resulted in N,N,N trimethyl biopolymer (TMB). Quaternization was effective in imparting biocidal activity to TMB against five selected waterborne pathogens, namely, Aeromonas hydrophila, Yersinia enterocolitica, Salmonella typhimurium, Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli O157:H7. 99.999% inactivation was achieved with S. typhimurium at a dose of 60 μg ml(-1) of TMB within 60 min at the ambient temperature, followed by other pathogens. Haemotological, histopathological and general examinations indicated no adverse effects in Swiss albino mice fed with the quaternized biopolymer (120 mg kg(-1) body weight(-1) day(-1)) over a period of 30 days. These results suggested that TMB was tolerated well without any signs of toxicity and may have potential application as a safe, antimicrobial bioflocculant for both removing and inactivating waterborne pathogens.


The principle of 'the best interests of the child' (art. 3 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child) is sometimes put forward as being the leading guide, i.e. it will in the long run – via, e.g. court cases and legal writing – give accurate and detailed information on the scope of children's rights and the responsibilities of, e.g., parents. We claim that this principle does not provide us with the necessary analytical tools to enhance the legal rights of children. To this end it is more efficient to accept the explanatory power and apply the elements of the Interest theory, i.e. the chain of children's interests and rights, obligations of e.g. parents and sanctions against failures. In this context we also illustrate that rights can have different strengths by briefly examining the role of social authorities in relation to the rights of children.


This thesis describes the design, synthesis and structure-activity relationships analysis of potential inhibitors targeting the hepatitis C virus (HCV) NS3 protease. Also discussed is the disease caused by HCV infection and the class of enzymes known as proteases. Furthermore are explained why such enzymes can be considered to be suitable targets for developing drugs to combat diseases in general and in particular HCV, focusing on the NS3 protease. Moreover, some strategies used to design protease inhibitors and the desired properties of potential drug candidates are briefly examined. Synthesis of linear and macrocyclic NS3 protease inhibitors comprising a designed trisubstituted cyclopentane moiety as an N-acyl-(4R)-hydroxyproline bioisostere is also addressed, and several very potent and promising compounds are evaluated.


This dissertation considers the poetry of Catullus and its often express concerns with matters of language through the lens of the Roman grammatical tradition. I argue that in Latin poetry, and in Latin literature more broadly, there existed a persistent interest in discussing linguistic matters--owing in large part to an early imitation of Greek authors who engaged openly with their language--and that this interest was articulated in ways that recall the figure of the professional grammaticus and the ars grammatica, the scientific study of the Latin language. I maintain that this interest becomes particularly widespread during the final decades of the Roman Republic, and so I present Catullus as a particularly representative example of this phenomenon. In each chapter I examine Catullus' poetry with reference to a different aspect of the grammaticus' trade. The first chapter considers the concept of latinitas, an idealized form of Latin that was discussed by professional grammatici, and coordinates Catullus' interaction with foreign words, morphology and phonology with similar approaches to the discussion of language as they are expressed by other poets and prose authors. In the second chapter I examine one of Catullus' most ambitious poems, his translation of Callimachus' "Lock of Berenices", and argue that the philological aspects of his translation are typical of the activity and concerns of professional grammatici and of Latin translators of Greek more generally. In the final chapter I consider the possibility that traces of contact with certain known figures from the professional sphere of grammatica, Parthenius of Nicaea and Valerius Cato, can be detected in Catullus' verses, and I use these possible traces to explore an array of features of Catullan poetic craft. In each instance I demonstrate first that grammatical interests can be identified in Catullus' verses and that these interests align with the ways in which other Latin authors engage with language, and second that, by reading the poet in this way, we situate him and his poetry within a far more expansive literary and cultural phenomenon that gestures towards the lasting influence of the ars grammatica. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Classical Studies First Advisor Joseph Farrell


An age- and sex-structured stock assessment model for Northeast Atlantic spurdog Squalus acanthias is presented that includes lengthbased processes, such as maturation, pup production, growth, and gear selectivity, with a length-at-age relationship to convert length to age. It relates pup production functionally to numbers of pregnant females, allowing for density-dependent effects. The model was fitted to a combined Scottish groundfish survey biomass index, to proportion-by-length category data from both trawl surveys and commercial catch sampling from target and non-target fisheries, and to fecundity data. The model was run from 1905 to better reflect virgin conditions and to allow early fecundity data to be fitted in order to estimate the extent of density dependence in pup production. The model estimated 2010 population levels to be about 23% relative to 1955 and 19% relative to 1905. Results confirm that the stock is depleted, but not to the extent estimated in a previous assessment. Current estimates of depletion would support an IUCN listing of "Endangered", but not "Critically Endangered". Model projections showed that a TAC of 1422 t (the last non-zero TAC) would allow future population growth.


This chapter summarizes the philosophical and empirical grounds for giving a primary role to the evaluations that people make of the quality of their lives. These evaluations permit comparisons among communities, regions, nations, and population subgroups; enable the estimation of the relative importance of various sources of happiness; and provide a well-being lens to aid the choice of public policies to support well-being. Available results expose the primacy of social determinants of happiness and especially the power of generosity and other positive social connections to improve the levels, distribution, and sustainability of well-being.


Improving robustness of walking robots has always been problematic. Their complex kinematics and locomotion has always been prone to damage: a broken cable, an unstable foothold or a wrong set of parameters has been an everlasting source of frustration. Nature developed an extraordinary robustness through redundancy and fast adaptation. Theories about decentralized nervous systems has inspired this paper with a novel approach. The presented solution aims at relocating low-level walking behaviours to a network of computers and, more exactly, into the robots individual legs. This paper will not cover the full scope of the software implementation (this is a eld found especially in modular robotics), but presents how such an encapsulated leg with all necessary hardware is built and focuses on the mechanical and kinematic aspect of such legs. It highlights how a robotic leg needs to be designed to tackle structured environments serves as explanatory guide through the design process of legs with integrated PCU and sensors.


Governing Through Technology describes the vital importance which digital information, in all its breeds and formats, acquires in restructuring organizations and other domains of social life in which expert work is carried out. Information produced and disseminated by an interlocking ecology of computer-based systems and artifacts currently provides the essential yet steadily shifting means for planning organizational operations and controlling organizational performances through multiple comparisons of outcomes across tasks, units, work clusters and sources. Information and information-based technologies are also a vital means through which expert work is conducted and monitored and an indispensable carrier of messages within and across sites and institutional boundaries. In all these qualities, information ceases to be a simple administrative companion through which people execute or monitor their duties and becomes a pervasive element and a crucial platform upon which new social, administrative and economic relations develop.


Microalbuminuria in adults has been found to be an early indicator of
both renal and systemic vascular disease, as well as significant cardiovascular
risk predictor and therapeutic marker. Its role in essential hypertension in
adults has also been well established. As diseases like hypertension and
obesity have their roots in childhood and are already present in children,
influencing the morbidity in adulthood, the role of microalbuminuria has been
extensively investigated in children as well. Most investigations have been
performed in diabetic children, confirming its clinical significance. There is
also enough evidence to suggest that
microalbuminuria in obese children should be taken as seriously as
in children with diabetes. In children with hypertension rare studies also indicate
that its presence identifies hypertensive
children with higher risk, although the exact role has to be confirmed
in prospective and larger studies. The mechanisms of microalbuminuria onset
could be the result of renal damage secondary to hypertension or underlying renal and systemic endothelial
dysfunction. Evidence from small intervention studies in children with
microalbuminuria also suggests that early intervention with antihypertensive
drugs is likely to be beneficial, pointing out the role of microalbuminuria
as a therapeutic marker in children too. In addition, we have to stress the
importance of follow-up of children with microalbuminuria, confirmation of
its persistence and identification of progression. However, longitudinal prospective
studies in children, investigating its future cardiovascular risk, are still
lacking.


We tackle the problem of jointly increasing the spatial resolution and apparent measurement accuracy of an input low-resolution, noisy, and perhaps heavily quantized depth map. In stark contrast to earlier work, we make no use of ancillary data like a color image at the target resolution, multiple aligned depth maps, or a database of high-resolution depth exemplars. Instead, we proceed by identifying and merging patch correspondences within the input depth map itself, exploiting patch wise scene self-similarity across depth such as repetition of geometric primitives or object symmetry. While the notion of 'single-image' super resolution has successfully been applied in the context of color and intensity images, we are to our knowledge the first to present a tailored analogue for depth images. Rather than reason in terms of patches of 2D pixels as others have before us, our key contribution is to proceed by reasoning in terms of patches of 3D points, with matched patch pairs related by a respective 6 DoF rigid body motion in 3D. In support of obtaining a dense correspondence field in reasonable time, we introduce a new 3D variant of Patch Match. A third contribution is a simple, yet effective patch up scaling and merging technique, which predicts sharp object boundaries at the target resolution. We show that our results are highly competitive with those of alternative techniques leveraging even a color image at the target resolution or a database of high-resolution depth exemplars.


International education has become a policy sector of growing importance to Canada. With increased government regulations, disconnect is often observed between the intended policy outcomes and practice. This study aims to explain this disconnect by analyzing the heterogeneity among stakeholder interests. It focuses on 1) distribution of authority; 2) heterogeneity of values; and 3) complementarities and clashes in policy issues. A multi-level governance (MLG) framework (Chou et. al., 2017; Hooghe & Marks, 2003), as a guiding theoretical lens, is applied to examine the interactions among governments (federal-provincial), non-governmental organizations, school administrators, international students and their families in the context of the Manitoba K-12 sector. Data for this study were collected through document analysis and 40 semi-structured interviews. Findings indicate increased steering power of both the federal and provincial governments to regulate international education with conflicting agendas based on political ideologies. The pursuit of Canada's economic competitiveness through K-12 international education has led to a rise in the authority of non-governmental actors, including parents and students, to shape the services, programs and curriculum content offered by public schools. The study proposes adding an additional layer to the MLG framework, that of the complexities within stakeholder groups.


* The Chaos Scenario: Amid the Ruins of Mass Media, the Choice for Business Is Stark: Listen or Perish. Bob Garfield. Nashville, TN: Stielstra Publishing, 2009. 306 pp. $19.99 pbk. One of the popular debates about the Internet and related digital technologies is whether they represent an evolutionary change or a revolutionary one. It is fairly easy to argue for the former position, since fundamentally all that the Internet does is to lower the cost of transmitting information. However, it is much more fun to argue for the latter view, and Bob Garfield is clearly in this second camp. In The Chaos Scenario, Garfield uses a mix of colorful language and well-chosen examples to argue that the so-called digital revolution "isn't just some news-magazine cover headline. It's an actual revolution, yielding revolutionary changes, thousands or millions of victims and an entirely new way of life." The principie implication of this shift is a fundamental undermining of most existing business models for media firms - Garfield envisions the end of traditional advertising agencies, newspapers and other traditional news organizations, and most network television programming. Garfield, a longtime media columnist and host of National Public Radio's On the Media, offers a clear picture of how the advertising business will need to change in this new world, as well as some thoughts about what this will mean for the news business. The central focus of Garfield's picture of the future is what he calls "listenomics," which he defines as "the art and science of cultivating relationships with individuals in a connected, increasingly open-source environment." He then commences to offer a series of examples of what this will look like. These range from Lego Corporation's "mindstorms" to a vast array of "widgets" for the computer desktop to virtual, selfdefined religious congregations to "ten rules for word-of-mouth advertising." Garfield clearly hopes that listenomics will catch on and become as widely recognized as freakonomics or wikinomics. In reality, this is a variation on a relatively old argument in the management literature about the need to listen to your customer and to be willing to change. And the idea of building individual relationships with customers is central to most service models of the media business. However, what makes this concept feel new here is an endless series of examples demonstrating that most media managers (including some very prominent ones) don't seem to get it - it may be part of the academic literature, but that knowledge clearly has yet to transfer to the various media industries. The focus that Garfield puts on listening actually hinders the potential value of the book. It causes him to miss the opportunity to make more of two changes that underlie listenomics, changes that are more fundamental for advertising and journalism professionals: the declining importance of mass, and the fact that information (content) is no longer what is scarce. …


Predation risk has a profound influence on the behavior of marine mammals, affecting grouping patterns and habitat use. Dolphins frequently bear evidence of shark bites, which can provide an indirect measure of predation pressure. Using photo-identification data, we investigated the prevalence of shark bites on three sympatric species of inshore dolphin, the Australian snubfin (Orcaella heinsohni), Australian humpback (Sousa sahulensis), and Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus), among four study sites in northwestern Australia. Bite prevalence varied markedly between species, with 72% of snubfin, 46% of humpback, and 18% of bottlenose dolphins exhibiting evidence of shark bites. Binomial logistic regression confirmed a high likelihood of bite presence on snubfin dolphins, and at one particular site for snubfin and bottlenose dolphins. The prevalence of tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) bites on snubfin dolphins was high, and bites attributed to other carcharhinid sharks were observed on all species. While acknowledging methodological differences with other studies, the prevalence of shark bites on snubfin dolphins is among the highest reported for any dolphins, suggesting predation risk represents an important but varying influence thereon. This study provides a baseline for future investigations into the affect of predation risk on the behavioral ecology of these sympatric species.


This paper summarizes the published information on the beetle fauna of the northern Leeward Islands (Anguilla, Antigua, Barbuda, Nevis, Saba, St. Barthelemy, St. Eustatius, St. Kitts, St. Martin-St. Maarten, and smaller associated islands, excluding Montserrat). These islands are generally smaller, lower, and drier than the remaining Leeward and Windward islands of the Lesser Antilles island arc. The fauna contains 26 families, with 155 genera, and 218 species. The families with the largest number of recorded species are Staphylinidae (36), Cerambycidae (28), Scarabaeidae (25), Tenebrionidae (23), Curculionidae (18), and Carabidae (15). At least 7 species (3.2% of the fauna) were probably introduced to the island by human activities. Sixteen species (7.3%) are endemic (restricted) to a single paleo-island bank and likely speciated there. Twenty nine species (13.3%) are shared only with other islands of the Lesser Antilles (Lesser Antillean endemics), and 43 species (19.7%) are more widespread Antilles endemics. The remaining 123 species (56.4%) in the fauna are otherwise mostly widely distributed in the Antilles and the Neotropical Region. The local beetle fauna is largely an immigrant fauna and has mostly originated elsewhere than on the islands of the northern Leewards. Summary data on total species endemicity of the entire Lesser Antilles indicate the presence of at least 1278 endemic beetle species, which is a density of about 20.7 species per 100 km2. This is now equivalent to that of the endemic vascular plants of the Caribbean islands. This truly makes the Caribbean islands a biodiversity hotspot for beetles. For the northern Leewards, it is evident that the beetle diversity is markedly understudied, and that the actual number of species is many times higher than now known.


Educators are challenged to create conditions under which instruction has a reasonable probability of improving students' knowledge and behavior. In high school physical education courses this problem is accentuated when adolescents are not highly receptive to traditional methods of instruction. The answer may lie in curriculum design wherein courses are better packaged to maintain student interest and involvement. The Albuquerque Public School System explored this concept during two consecutive summer terms. An innovative physical education course incorporating unique field experiences, high levels of participation, and reinforcement of individual responsibility was designed and implemented in a pilot project. When compared to traditional physical education classes, mixed results were obtained for various physical fitness measures and knowledge scores. The implications for designing physical education courses are discussed.


In 2012, the Supreme Court of the United States decided Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders of the County of Burlington. The Court held that full strip searches, including cavity searches, are permissible regardless of the existence of basic reasonable suspicion that the arrestee is in possession of contraband. Further, the Court held that law enforcement may conduct full strip searches after arresting an individual for a minor offense and irrespective of the circumstances surrounding the arrest. These holdings upended typical search jurisprudence. Florence sanctions the overreach of state power and extends to law enforcement and corrections officers the unfettered discretion to conduct graphically invasive, suspicion-less strip searches. The Court's dereliction of duty is enough to concern all citizens. However, the impact of this phenomenal lapse will not be felt equally in the age of what Bonilla-Silva has termed colorblind racism. In 2013, in the case of Floyd v. City of New York, Judge Shira A. Scheindlin found that between January 2004 and June 2012, the New York City Police Department ("NYPD") made 4.4 million stops. She further found that more than eighty percent of these 4.4 million stops were of Blacks or Hispanics. Specifically, Judge Scheindlin found that in "52% of the 4.4 million stops, the person stopped was black, in 31% the person [stopped] was Hispanic, and in 10% the person stopped was white." This rate of stops and frisks is grossly disproportionate to Black and Hispanic population representation in New York City and the United States in general. Further, as Judge Scheindlin astutely points out, "The NYPD's policy of targeting 'the right people' for stops . . . is not directed toward the identification of a specific perpetrator, rather, it is a policy of targeting expressly identified racial groups for stops in general." These findings make clear that Florence and colorblind racism enable law enforcement to wage war against the civil rights of minority citizens. This Article argues that the Court's phenomenal lapse in Florence and its general abdication of law enforcement oversight inevitably subjects minorities, particularly Blacks and Latinos, to the blanket authority of law enforcement to harass and humiliate based on perfunctory arrests predicated on the slightest of infractions. Other legal analyses of Florence have largely ignored, and hence minimized, the salience of race when thinking about strip searches. In light of the significant consequential impacts of this decision on minority populations, this oversight is itself unreasonable. This paper will analyze the rationale and policy implications, particularly for people of color, in light of Florence. Finally, I will also propose policy recommendations to temper the projected negative impacts of the decision.


The concept of canopy spectral invariants expresses the observation that simple algebraic combinations of leaf and canopy spectral reflectances become wavelength independent and determine two canopy structure specific variables - the recollision and escape probabilities. The recollision probability (probability that a photon scattered from a phytoelement will interact within the canopy again) is a measure of the multi-level hierarchical structure in a vegetated pixel and can be obtained from hyperspectral data. The escape probability (probability that a scattered photon will escape the vegetation in a given direction) is sensitive to canopy geometrical properties and can be derived from multi-angle spectral data. The escape and recollision probabilities have the potential to separate forest types based on crown shape and the number of hierarchical levels within the landscape. This paper introduces the concept and demonstrates how this approach can be used to monitor forest structural parameters with multi-angle and hyperspectral data.


Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) is a promising approach whereby electric vehicles (EVs) are used to store excess electricity supply (e.g., from renewable sources), which is sold back to the grid in times of scarcity. In this paper we consider the setting of a smart car park, where EVs come and go, and can be used for V2G while parked. We develop novel allocation and payment mechanisms which truthfully elicit the EV owners' preferences and constraints, including arrival, departure, required charge, as well as the costs of discharging due to loss of efficiency of the battery. The car park will schedule the charging and discharging of each EV, ensuring the constraints of the EVs are met, and taking into consideration predictions about future electricity prices. Optimally solving the global problem is intractable, and we present three novel heuristic online scheduling algorithms. We show that, under certain conditions, two of these satisfy monotonicity and are therefore truthful. We furthermore evaluate the algorithms using simulations, and we show that some of our algorithms benefit significantly from V2G, achieving positive benefit for the car park even when agents do not pay for using it.


Scholars have theorized that rule-of-law reform in post-communist Central Asia and Eastern Europe has been thwarted by a Soviet legacy of disrespect for the law. These scholars argue that ingrained practices of nepotism, influence-peddling, and corruption have undermined formal institutions and left little room for the rule of law to grow. Thus, they argue, successful rule of law reform depends as much upon changing the beliefs that people have about the law as it does upon reforming legal institutions. This argument has resonated with rule-of-law aid practitioners, resulting in a proliferation of civic education programs in post-Soviet states designed to "foster a rule of law culture." Using Mongolia as a primary case study, the article contests the assumptions underlying the civic education approach to rule-of-law reform. It also argues that, given the socio-political realities of many countries in which rule-of-law education programs have been implemented, they are not only likely to fail, but to lead to disillusionment, cynicism, and further disrespect for the law. In some cases, they also risk legitimating unjust laws and authoritarian regimes. This article proposes an alternative to the rule-of-law project: Juries. Rule-of-law reformers have largely rejected jury systems on the ground that juries often disregard or cannot understand the law. Reformers have also feared that juries would discourage foreign investment by introducing just the type of uncertainty that "rule of law" is meant to prevent. This article responds that, in emerging democracies, certainty is less important than contextualized justice that reflects community values. It also argues that the deliberative process of jury decision-making promotes civic engagement, allows broader democratic participation in the law-making project, and may effectively check judicial corruption. Thus, juries may help restore faith in judicial institutions and lead emerging democracies closer to the rule of law ideal.


RATIONALE
The collision cross-section (Ω) of a protein or protein complex ion can be measured using traveling-wave (T-wave) ion mobility (IM) mass spectrometry (MS) via calibration with compounds of known Ω. The T-wave Ω-values depend strongly on instrument parameters and calibrant selection. Optimization of instrument parameters and calibration standards are crucial for obtaining accurate T-wave Ω-values.

METHODS
Human insulin and the fast-acting insulin aspart under native-like conditions (ammonium acetate, physiological pH) were analyzed on Waters SYNAPT G1 and G2 HDMS instruments. The calibrated T-wave Ω-values of insulin monomer, dimer, and hexamer ions were measured using many different combinations of denatured and native-like calibrants (masses between 2.85 and 256 kDa) and T-wave conditions. Drift-tube Ω-values were obtained on a modified SYNAPT G1.

RESULTS
Insulin T-wave Ω-values were measured at 26 combinations of T-wave velocity and amplitude. Optimal sets of calibrants were identified that yield Ω-values with minimal dependence on T-wave conditions and calibration plots with high R(2)-values. The T-wave Ω-values determined under conditions satisfying these criteria had absolute errors <2%. Structural differences between human insulin and fast-acting insulin aspart were probed with IM-MS. Insulin aspart monomers have increased flexibility, while hexamers are more compact than human insulin.

CONCLUSIONS
Accurate T-wave Ω-values that are indistinguishable from drift-tube values are obtained when using (1) native-like calibrants with masses that closely bracket that of the analyte, (2) T-wave velocities that maximize the R(2) of the calibration plot for those calibrants, and (3) at least three replicates at T-wave velocities that yield calibration plots with high R(2).


We present a modified photon mapping algorithm capable of running entirely on GPUs. Our implementation uses breadth-first photon tracing to distribute photons using the GPU. The photons are stored in a grid-based photon map that is constructed directly on the graphics hardware using one of two methods: the first method is a multipass technique that uses fragment programs to directly sort the photons into a compact grid. The second method uses a single rendering pass combining a vertex program and the stencil buffer to route photons to their respective grid cells, producing an approximate photon map. We also present an efficient method for locating the nearest photons in the grid, which makes it possible to compute an estimate of the radiance at any surface location in the scene. Finally, we describe a breadth-first stochastic ray tracer that uses the photon map to simulate full global illumination directly on the graphics hardware. Our implementation demonstrates that current graphics hardware is capable of fully simulating global illumination with progressive, interactive feedback to the user.


Swarm testing is a novel and inexpensive way to improve the diversity of test cases generated during random testing. Increased diversity leads to improved coverage and fault detection. In swarm testing, the usual practice of potentially including all features in every test case is abandoned. Rather, a large "swarm" of randomly generated configurations, each of which omits some features, is used, with configurations receiving equal resources. We have identified two mechanisms by which feature omission leads to better exploration of a system's state space. First, some features actively prevent the system from executing interesting behaviors; e.g., "pop" calls may prevent a stack data structure from executing a bug in its overflow detection logic. Second, even when there is no active suppression of behaviors, test features compete for space in each test, limiting the depth to which logic driven by features can be explored. Experimental results show that swarm testing increases coverage and can improve fault detection dramatically; for example, in a week of testing it found 42% more distinct ways to crash a collection of C compilers than did the heavily hand-tuned default configuration of a random tester.


The emergence of water markets has heralded the prospect of increased efficiency in the use of the resource for extractive purposes. However, water markets have not encompassed all elements of demand for the resource. Notably, demands for the environmental public goods provided by river flows have not been revealed in markets. State Governments have instituted regulations requiring 'environmental flows' to be quarantined from the market allocation process. This policy has triggered negative responses from irrigators and conservationists. Lobby groups have found that the process of determining environmental flows is a prospective site for rent seeking. To avoid policy being driven by rent seeking, information on the costs and benefits of environmental flows is useful. Whereas the costs of environmental flows are readily assessed through reference to market data on irrigators' surpluses foregone, the benefits must be estimated through the use of non-market, stated preference valuation techniques. These techniques — including contingent valuation and choice modelling — remain controversial. Some argue that they should not be used on ethical grounds. Others argue that they cannot be used on technical grounds. These arguments are discussed in this paper, using the context of the water policy debate. The evidence is that stated preference techniques are being used, and applications have been performed in Australia in the context of riverine health. However their use remains restricted relative to the scale of the Australian natural resource management task. Some possible explanations for this limited up-take are provided along with some suggested ways forward.


This article investigates the performance of Brazilian private equity (PE) and venture capital funds between 1990 and 2013. The Spectra-Insper database is used for information about gross returns and multiples. Investment amounts are collected from what General Partners report in Private Placement Memorandum or that are hand collected by the CVM (Brazilian Security Exchange Commission) or other commercial sources. The performance of 46 funds is analyzed. The average IRR of Brazilian funds is higher than the average of U.S. funds over the same period. We observe that Brazilian funds with vintage years between 1990 and 1997 underperform U.S. PE funds on average, but those with vintage years between 1998 and 2008 outperform U.S. PE funds. This pattern may reflect a learning curve in Brazilian PE industry. We find evidence that performance in Brazil has a higher cyclicality than in the U.S., but this may be due to the small sample size rather than the emerging market effect.


Simple, accurate, and precise spectrophotometric method has been developed and validated for the estimation of verapamil hydrochloride in tablets. The method is based on the condensation of verapamil hydrochloride with bromokresol green (BKG) in an acetone medium. The spectrophotometric method based on the measurement of the colored product at 409 nm. The reaction conditions were studied and optimized. Beer's law was obeyed in the concentration range of 1.9648-4.4208 mg 100 ml-1 with RSD of 8.74 x 10-2 and 3.33 x 10-2 and molar absorptivity of 9.94 x 103, the range of application of the methods is 65-135% of the nominal content of verapamil hydrochloride in the dosage forms.


Background The preservation of the economic livelihood of tobacco farmers is a common argument used to oppose tobacco control measures. However, little empirical evidence exists about these livelihoods. We seek to evaluate the economic livelihoods of individual tobacco farmers in Malawi, including how much money they earn from selling tobacco, and the costs they incur to produce the crop, including labour inputs. We also evaluate farmers' decisions to contract directly with firms that buy their crops. Methods We designed and implemented an economic survey of 685 tobacco farmers, including both independent and contract farmers, across the 6 main tobacco-growing districts. We augmented the survey with focus group discussions with subsets of respondents from each region to refine our inquiries. Results Contract farmers cultivating tobacco in Malawi as their main economic livelihoods are typically operating at margins that place their households well below national poverty thresholds, while independent farmers are typically operating at a loss. Even when labour is excluded from the calculation of income less costs, farmers' gross margins place most households in the bottom income decile of the overall population. Tobacco farmers appear to contract principally as a means to obtain credit, which is consistently reported to be difficult to obtain. Conclusions The tobacco industry narrative that tobacco farming is a lucrative economic endeavour for smallholder farmers is demonstrably inaccurate in the context of Malawi. From the perspective of these farmers, tobacco farming is an economically challenging livelihood for most.


This paper outlines the motivation and preliminary investigations into the possibility of a new method of characterising cartilage health in vivo. Current in vivo indentation techniques, which rely on stiffness measurements alone, are unable to adequately distinguish between healthy and degraded tissue. By considering the tangential strain in the articular surface during an indentation test, it is hypothesised that a simple and more sensitive indicator of cartilage integrity may be possible. The present study investigates the effects of low levels of degradation on the tangential surface strain under the indenter. Preliminary results suggest that this technique is highly sensitive, and can discriminate between degeneration and the natural variations across the joint. From these investigations we propose that the relationship between indentation and the surrounding strain field might be able to distinguish between healthy soft tissue and degraded tissue in vivo, important information not available from the current techniques. This study forms the basis of a series of further experimental and modelling investigations to develop these ideas with the goal of creating a more effective diagnostic method for the surgeon.


This paper provides some general lessons for the design of countercyclical capital buffers. Its main empirical contribution is to analyse conditioning variables which could guide the build-up and release of capital. A major distinction for countercyclical capital schemes is whether conditioning variables are bank-specific or system-wide. The evidence presented in the paper indicates that the idiosyncratic component can be sizeable when a bank-specific approach is used. This makes a system-wide approach preferable, for which the best variables as signal for the pace and size of the accumulation of the buffers are not necessarily the best for the timing and intensity of the release. The credit-to-GDP ratio seems best for the build-up phase. Some measure of aggregate losses, possibly combined with indicators of credit conditions, seem to perform well for signalling the beginning of the release phase. Nonetheless, the analysis indicates that designing a fully rule-based mechanism may not be possible at this stage as some degree of judgment seems inevitable. A parallel exercise indicates that reducing the sensitivity of the minimum capital requirement is an important element of a credible countercyclical buffer scheme.


Most prior work on task-oriented dialogue systems are restricted to a limited coverage of domain APIs, while users oftentimes have domain related requests that are not covered by the APIs. In this paper, we propose to expand coverage of task-oriented dialogue systems by incorporating external unstructured knowledge sources. We define three sub-tasks: knowledge-seeking turn detection, knowledge selection, and knowledge-grounded response generation, which can be modeled individually or jointly. We introduce an augmented version of MultiWOZ 2.1, which includes new out-of-API-coverage turns and responses grounded on external knowledge sources. We present baselines for each sub-task using both conventional and neural approaches. Our experimental results demonstrate the need for further research in this direction to enable more informative conversational systems.


Despite growing popular interest for the mental health of electronic music artists, scientific research addressing this topic has remained largely absent. As such, the aim of the current study was to examine the mental health of electronic music artists, as well as a number of determinants. Using a cross-sectional quantitative design, a total of 163 electronic music artists participated in this study. In line with the two-continua model of mental health, both symptoms of depression/anxiety and well-being were adopted as indicators for mental health. Furthermore, standardized measures were used to assess potential determinants of mental health, including sleep disturbance, music performance anxiety, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, occupational stress, resilience, and social support. Results highlighted that around 30% of participants experienced symptoms of depression/anxiety. Nevertheless, the majority of these participants still demonstrated at least moderate levels of functioning and well-being. Sleep disturbance formed a significant predictor for both symptoms of depression/anxiety and well-being. Furthermore, resilience and social support were significant predictors for well-being. The results provide a first glimpse into the mental health challenges experienced by electronic music artists and support the need for increased research as well as applied initiatives directed at safeguarding their mental health.


This paper discusses a broad array of types of community involvement in innovative curricula that involve a three-way partnership among the educators, the parents, and the community. The aim is to demonstrate that the community can be involved in novel ways with innovative curricula when the needs of all the parties involved are met. Specifically, the paper emphasises the role of (1) parents, when given the school support, in turning out smarter students, (2) the business community in promoting education while promoting itself, (3) the university in teaching new skills and knowledge of work processes to both employees and employers, and (4) the nation as a whole in fuelling and sustaining this totally new partnership that is needed for the next century. It has long been known that effective education in the schools includes a three-way partnership among the educators, the parents, and the community. Teaching in isolation from the family and community accomplishes only short-term aims, at best, and can even result in frustration for those who wish to serve favourably the interests of the students. Community involvement in the classroom and school can take many forms. Here are some examples of community involvement programs that have been used for different age levels and in different types of schools. The aim is to demonstrate that the community can be involved in novel ways with innovative curricula. Often, most community involvement efforts take place at the elementary or primary school level. Perhaps this is because of the recognition that attitudes formed in the younger years are very important in terms of long-term learning and success. A variety of activities can successfully include parents and community at this school level. Collaboration Between Parents/Children and the School Parents can help to turn out smarter students. In Missouri, one innovative program called "Parents as Teachers (PAT)" helps parents to interpret their babies' different developmental stages and explain how the behaviour may affect later learning (Caminiti, 1990). This kind of home-school partnership can help educate parents in supporting their children who struggle with education and literacy. Often, parents want to help but are at a loss because they are not trained in educational methods. Therefore, parents depend totally on teachers and educators and this creates stress and unnecessary demands on the educational system. Getting Parents to Share Their Knowledge of Their Children's Literacy As parents bring up their children, they should know their children best. One study by Lazar and Weisberg (1996) demonstrated the significance of inviting parents to share their knowledge of their children's literacy with teachers. This kind of sharing helps teachers to design appropriate classroom instruction to meet the needs of their students. The study involved a group of children in Grades 1 through 6 who were referred to the Beaver College Reading-Language Arts Centre (Glenside, Pennsylvania, USA) for a program of literacy instruction on the basis of their poor school performance. The children were African American, Asian American, and Caucasian youths of different economic backgrounds. The teachers in the program only communicated with parents through newsletters, report cards, narrative progress reports, weekly work folders, letters, notices, conferences, back-to-school presentations, meetings, and telephone conversations. Parent feedback was hardly asked for. However, today's parents are better educated. Hence, two-way communication between parents and teachers becomes necessary. Although some parents do volunteer to help out in schools where their children are studying, this is at most a small scale involvement. Schools do need parents' involvement on a much larger scale. The study involved teachers in the program initiating a relationship with parents by: 1. …


For 60 years, the international community has limited the right of territories to gain independence without the permission of the "parent state." Such limits were, however, challenged when Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia, in February 2008. As a result, Belgrade referred the matter to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). On 22 July 2010, it came back with its long-awaited decision. Taking a narrow view of the question, the majority argued that, in general, declarations of independence, as mere statements, do not violate international law unless stated otherwise by the Security Council. Thus, Kosovo's declaration of independence cannot be considered as being wholly "unique" – as those states that supported its statehood have claimed. On the key questions of whether Kosovo's secession is legal, or if it is even a state, they chose to avoid controversy. On these points, the international community is no clearer now than it was before the case.


Background & Aims of the Study : In some situation like rainfall seasons raw water become very turbid so it affected the water treatment plant processes and quality of produced water. Treatment of very high turbid water has some concerns like precursors for disinfection by-products and very loading rate of particle on filter's media and consequently increases in water consumption for filter backwash. This paper investigates the performance of a composite inorganic polymer of aluminium and ferric salt, Polyaluminium ferric chloride (PAFCl), for the removal of turbidity, color and natural organic matter (NOM) from high turbid water. Materials and Methods: Experiments were carried out by Jar test experiment by synthetic water samples with 250 and 500 NTU turbidity that prepared in laboratory. Results : The results of conventional jar test showed that the optimum pH for coagulation of water sample was 7.5 to 8 and optimum dosage of the coagulant was 10 mg/L. Removal efficiency of turbidity, color and UV adsorbent at 254 nm at optimum dose and pH without filtration was 99.92%, 100% and 80.6% respectively for first sample (250 NTU) and 99.95%, 99.49% and 84.77 for second sample (500 NTU) respectively. Conclusion : It concluded that polyaluminium ferric chloride has a very good efficiency for the removal of turbidity, color and organic matter in high turbid water. Also it can be select as a coagulant for high turbid water and some waste water from water treatment plant like filter backwash water.


Background After 11 September 2011, Italy prepared a Public Health Plan for national defence and regional storage facilities for antidotes. These are managed by a physician and a pharmacist. In Friuli Venezia Giulia-Italy, the pharmacist is responsible for the safety of the antidotes, the national database, collaborates with the physician in planning for emergencies and makes antidotes available for immediate transfer to the site of the incident. Sarin, a nerve gas, even at a very low concentration, causes death rapidly if the victim isn't treated immediately with atropine and subsequently within the first 4–5 hours with pralidoxime. Purpose To verify, by means of a simulation, that there were sufficient stocks of atropine, and the accessibility, distribution and the appropriateness of the treatment. Materials and Methods We simulated a terrorist attack with sarin at the railway station in Udine, the seriousness equivalent to the attack in Tokyo on 20 March 1995. Results In Tokyo, 107 people out of approximately 6000 involved in the attack with sarin, needed treatment with atropine. 80% were treated with only 2 mg, for a total of 170 mg, while 21 needed more than 2 mg. Nobody was given more than 9 mg. In total, 350 mg of atropine was immediately necessary on the site of the attack, equivalent to 350 phials of 1 mg. In our simulation, the time for access and preparation of the antidote was about 10 minutes from the moment of the alert. The transfer and distribution time to the site was less than 15 minutes due to favourable road access, geographical factors and the short distance from the station to the storage facility. Conclusions The pharmacist is responsible for immediate availability, accessibility and distribution of the antidotes to the site of emergency, and awareness of appropriate treatment. No conflict of interest.


Wastewater containing Zn+₂and Ni+₂is normally treated by chemical precipitation, coagulation, flocculation followed by clarification.The metal precipitation is influenced by chemical (wastewater pH, coagulant type and dose) and physical (rapid mixing speed and time) parameters. The process usually consists of the rapid dispersal of a coagulant into the wastewater followed by an intense agitation commonly defined as rapid mixing. This study focused on the most important parameters of rapid mixing design: mixing intensity and duration. Simulated aqueous solutions containing 50 ppm Zn+₂and 50 ppm Ni+₂were treated with aluminum sulphate, ferrous sulphate and ferric chloride coagulants at different doses and different rapid mixing times and speeds. Experimental results obtained indicate that ferric chloride at 30 mg/l dose was superior over aluminum sulphate and ferrous sulphate at the same dose in Zn+₂and Ni+₂removals. Rapid mixing time had a strong influence on the metal removal. An optimal combination of rapid mixing parameters was determined as: 60 s at 100 rpm for Zn+₂and 30 s at 80 rpm for Ni+₂removals. Scanning electron microscopy images for Zn+₂and Ni+₂flocs at optimum parameters of rapid mixing show that ferric chloride addition compacts the surface texture of the metals flocs. Flocs formed by Zn+₂are denser and larger than flocs formed by Ni+₂.


Aim To evaluate the effect of scleral buckling on intraocular pressure (IOP) change during atmospheric decompression for eyes with small volumes of intravitreal gas. Methods 12 eyes of 12 patients, including 6 with and 6 without scleral buckles, were evaluated in a hypobaric chamber simulating air travel approximately 1 month post pars plana vitrectomy with 15% C3F8 gas fluid exchange. The chamber was decompressed with an ascent rate of 300 feet/min to a peak altitude of 8000 feet. After 15 min of cruising, descent was undertaken at 300 feet/min. IOP was measured at baseline and then every 5 min using slit-lamp mounted Goldmann applanation tonometry. The data were entered onto a spreadsheet and comparative statistics were done. Results During ascent, IOP steadily rose from an average of 13±3 mm Hg to a peak of 26±9 mm Hg at 8000 feet. Patients with scleral buckles had significantly lower peak IOPs compared with those without buckles (20±5 mm Hg vs 32±8 mm Hg, p=0.013, t test) representing lower absolute increases in IOP (7±1 mm Hg vs 19±7 mm Hg, p=0.001, t test) and lower percentage increases in IOP from baseline (62±25% vs 140±40%, respectively). Conclusions Eyes with small volumes of intravitreal gas demonstrate significant IOP changes during atmospheric decompression in simulated flight. The presence of a scleral buckle significantly limits the magnitude of IOP change, suggesting that such patients can likely tolerate typical air travel without undue risk of dangerous IOP elevation.


Osteological peculiarities of Bufo brongersmai (Anura: Bufonidae) and their possible relation to life in an arid environment. Zoological Studies 48(1): 108-119. The morphology of selected isolated skeletal elements of the northwestern African endemic toad Bufo brongersmai Hoogmoed 1972 is herein described and compared to those of other Bufo species inhabiting the same area and Europe. The osteological morphology of this species clearly differentiates it from others within the genus, and several diagnostic osteological characters are added to the specific diagnosis. In particular, the presence in adult individuals of a rather-large maxillary fontanella, which late in ontogeny is reduced to a few foramina, has not been observed in other species. These fontanellae, as well as the fenestrations on the sphenethmoid, together with other osteological traits, suggest a significant degree of hypo-ossification. This seems likely related to the rapid larval development that allows B. brongersmai to achieve higher reproductive fitness than other species in the highly ephemeral waters of the rocky, arid environment it inhabits. Other peculiar osteological traits could be related to the exploitation of small crevices to protect adults from overheating and desiccation.


Production functions that take into account uncertainty can be empirically estimated by taking a state contingent view of the world. Where there is no a priori information to allocate data amongst a small number of states, the estimation may be carried out with finite mixtures model. The complexity of the estimation almost guarantees a large number of local maxima for the likelihood function. However, it is shown, with examples, that a variation on the traditional method of finding starting values substantially improves the estimation results. One of the major benefits of the proposed method is the reliable estimation of a decision maker's ability to substitute output between states, justifying a preference for the state contingent approach over the use of a stochastic production function.


The behavioral effects of cocaine (0.03-3.0 mg/kg) and several selective serotonin (5HT) uptake inhibitors, direct agonists and antagonists were determined in squirrel monkeys trained to respond under a fixed-interval (FI) schedule of stimulus termination and a second-order schedule of i.v. drug self-administration. Intermediate doses of cocaine increased fixed-interval response rate markedly, and higher doses decreased response rate below control (nondrug) values. The i.v. self-administration of cocaine (0.025-1.0 mg/injection) maintained schedule-appropriate responding over a range of doses, and response rate under the second-order schedule was a function of drug dose. In contrast, none of the 5HT uptake inhibitors (alaproclate, clomipramine and fluoxetine) or direct agonists ((+/-)-1-(4-iodo-2,5-dimethoxyphenyl)-2-aminopropane, (+/-)-8-hydroxy-2-(di-N-propylamino) tetralin and quipazine) increased fixed-interval response rate, nor did the 5HT uptake inhibitors maintain self-administration. In drug interaction studies, the 5HT uptake inhibitors and quipazine produced an insurmountable attenuation of the behavioral-stimulant effects of cocaine, whereas the 5HT antagonists (ketanserin, mianserin and ritanserin) with high affinity for 5HT2 binding sites enhanced the behavioral-stimulant effects of low or intermediate doses of cocaine. Additionally, administration of ritanserin increased response rate for i.v. for self-administration of cocaine over a range of cocaine doses. The pharmacological profile of effects of selective 5HT uptake inhibitors and direct agonists indicates that the behavioral-stimulant and reinforcing effects of cocaine do not depend on inhibition of 5HT uptake, whereas the drug interactions suggest that the serotonergic system can modulate specific behavioral effects of cocaine.


We are measuring relative elemental abundances for the ejecta in the line of sight from Eta Carinae using high dispersion spectroscopy with the HST/STIS and the VLT/UVES. While multiple velocity components have been identified, we focus on the -513 and -146 km/s components originating from the Homunculus and the Little Homunculus. Complicating factors are the complex nebular structures in the immediate vicinity of the bright, massive star: the very bright emission structures, Weigelt blobs B, C and D, the broad, clumpy structures of the extended wind apparently not photoionized by Eta Car B, and general scattered starlight from the extended wind and the dusty core of the circumstellar material. We have used the 3050 to 3160A region of overlap between STIS and UVES to intercompare equivalent widths of absorption lines to estimate the 'contributing factor', namely the amount of light originating from the star compared to nebular structures. While the extracted STIS spectra are from 0.1" wide aperture, the UVES spectra are limited by the 1" seeing conditions. Curiously we find that the scattering contribution in the UVES spectra changes with time, apparently with orbital phase of the 5.54-year period. This indicates that the dust may be modified by changes in the central source with phase. The noticeable drop in scattered light appears to occur about 1.7 years (phase 0.35) after the spectroscopic minimum. Relative abundances of iron peak elements and some molecules will be estimated. Observations in this study were accomplished with HST through STSci and with VLT through ESO and funded under STIS GTO resources.


Previous research has shown both positive and negative effects of gaming on academic and cognitive performance. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of gaming on development of working memory (WM), inattention, reading and math ability using a longitudinal design. A randomly chosen sample of 335 (168 girls) 6–25 year olds performed tests of visuo-spatial and verbal WM, reading and math ability twice, with a two year interval. Gaming and inattention were assed with questionnaires. Time spent gaming did not affect development of any of the variables. However, game category did correlate with development of visuo-spatial WM, with action-gamers having a more favourable development. There was, however, no positive interaction with more time spent gaming for action-gamers. These results suggest that gaming should not be regarded as a damaging leisure activity. There could instead be some positive effects of gaming, but future research should try to identify the aspects of gaming contributing to this effect.


Book synopsis: Four hundred years after his birth, John Milton remains one of the greatest and most controversial figures in English literature. The Oxford Handbook of Milton is a comprehensive guide to the state of Milton studies in the early twenty-first century, bringing together an international team of thirty-five leading scholars in one volume. The rise of critical interest in Milton's political and religious ideas is the most striking aspect of Milton studies in recent times, a consequence in great part of the increasingly fluid relations between literary and historical study. The Oxford Handbook both embodies the interest in Milton's political and religious contexts in the last generation and seeks to inaugurate a new phase in Milton studies through closer integration of the poetry and prose. There are eight essays on various aspects of Paradise Lost, ranging from its classical background and poetic form to its heretical theology and representation of God. There are sections devoted both to the shorter poems, including 'Lycidas' and Comus, and the final poems, Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes. There are also three sections on Milton's prose: the early controversial works on church government, divorce, and toleration, including Areopagitica; the regicide and republican prose of 1649-1660, the period during which he served as the chief propagandist for the English Commonwealth and Cromwell's Protectorate, and the various writings on education, history, and theology. The opening essays explore what we know about Milton's biography and what it might tell us; the final essays offer interpretations of aspects of Milton's massive influence on later writers, including the Romantic poets.


A global crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic that started in early 2020 poses significant challenges for how research is conducted and communicated. We present four case studies from the perspective of an interdisciplinary research institution that switched to "corona-mode" during the first two months of the crisis, focussing all its capacities on COVID-19-related issues, communicating to the public directly and via media, as well as actively advising the national government. The case studies highlight the challenges posed by the increased time pressure, high demand for transparency, and communication of complexity and uncertainty. The article gives insights into how these challenges were addressed in our research institution and how science communication in general can be managed during a crisis.


In response to pressures from governments, investors, non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders, many large corporations have adopted a variety of carbon and energy management practices, taken action to reduce their emissions and set targets to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Using the case of international retailers, this article examines whether, and under what conditions, non-state actors might be capable of assuming the governance roles that have historically been played by national governments.

This article concludes that external governance pressures can, if they are aligned, robust and of sufficient duration, have a significant influence on internal governance processes and on corporate strategies and actions. However, the specific actions that are taken by companies – in particular those that require significant capital investments – are constrained by the 'business case'. That is, companies will generally only invest capital in situations when there is a clear financial case (i.e. where the benefits outweigh the costs, when the rate of return meets or exceeds company targets) for action.

That is, the extent to which external governance pressures can force companies to take action, in particular challenging or transformative actions that go beyond the boundaries of the business case, is not at all clear. This is particularly the case if the business case weakens, or if the opportunities for incremental change are exhausted. In that context, the power of non-state actors to force them to consider radical changes in their business processes and their use of energy therefore seems to be very limited. Copyright © 2016 The Authors Business Strategy and the Environment published by ERP Environment and John Wiley & Sons Ltd


ABSTRACT Objective: Peripheral nerve injury (PNI) is an important global health problem. Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) plays crucial role in the survival, growth, and maintenance of various neurons in the mammalian nervous system, human included. Hericium erinaceus (HE), an edible and medicinal mushroom, has been extensively studied for its neuroprotective properties. In this study, the neuroprotective and neurotogenic effects of HE and NGF were compared on mouse PNI model by using a laser microdissection technique. Methods: Neuronal cultures were prepared from dorsal root ganglia (DRG) of 6–8 week aged mice, pretreated them with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), NGF, HE, or the combination of NGF and HE. To model axonal injury in vitro, axons were cut (axotomy) with a microscope-controlled laser beam. Axotomized neurons were imaged under the microscope. Axotomized neurons' survival ratios were calculated using the propidium iodide (PI), which is a red-fluorescent nuclear dye. Their axon lengths were measured using the AxioVision 4.8 software. Results: Although both HE and NGF have neuroprotective and regenerative effects on axotomized peripheral sensory neurons, HE exhibits a higher neuroprotective activity compared to the NGF. The combination of HE and NGF maximizes axonal regeneration ability of axotomized neurons. Conclusion: HE has capabilities of preventing the death of neurons and regenerating their axons in the experimental axonal injury model. Our findings provide experimental evidence that HE may serve as a neuroprotective and regenerative candidate for treating peripheral nerve injuries. Present study warrants further investigation of HE as a potential natural compound to remedy PNI.


The critical comments about the narrative work of the Haitian writer Jacques Stéphen Alexis (1922-61) and the French-Venezuelan writer Miguel Bonnefoy (1986) establish a connection between the production of these narrators and the notion of marvellous or magical realism. In the following pages, we aim to analyse the specific strategies used by these authors in their narrative works to set up a link with the real and the marvellous, in the light of the existing conceptualizations concerning this aesthetic. Furthermore, we want to read these results in view of the following target, which has been outlined by Alexis and Bonnefoy in critical essays and interviews : marvellous realism has been adopted to model their narrative works.


Breast cancer is a complex disease comprising molecularly distinct subtypes. The prognosis and treatment differ between subtypes; thus, it is important to distinguish one subtype from another. In this chapter, we make use of high-throughput microarray dataset to perform breast cancer subtyping of 10086 samples. Aside from the four major subtypes, that is, Basal-like, HER2-enriched, luminal A, and luminal B, we defined a normal-like subtype that has a gene expression profile similar to that found in normal and adjacent normal breast samples. Also, a group of luminal B-like samples with better prognosis was distinguished from the high-risk luminal B breast cancer. We additionally identified 33 surface-protein encoding genes whose gene expression profiles were associated with survival outcomes. We believe these genes are potential therapeutic targets and diagnostic biomarkers for breast cancer.


Introduction Scrub typhus is an acute febrile illness caused by the obligate intracellular bacterium,Orientia tsutsugamushi. Given their affordability and ease of use, antibody based diagnostic assays can be important diagnostic tools for early detection of scrub typhus fever in resource poor countries like Nepal. Immunochromatography (ICT) and IgM ELISA are two of the routinely employed antibody based assays for diagnosis of Scrub typhus fever in Nepal, although the recommended gold standard diagnostic test is IgM Immuno�uorescence assay (IFA). This study evaluated the InBios Scrub Typhus Detect™ Immunoglobulin M (IgM) ELISA and IgM Immuno�uorescence assays in single serum sample at the time of admission. Methodology Study participants (1585 suspected cases), were enrolled based on acute febrile illness with suspected scrub typhus cases in central Nepal from April 2017 to March 2018. Blood sample was collected from the suspected patients of scrub typhus, presenting with acute febrile illness. IgM antibody to Orientia tsusugamushi was detected by using Scrub Typhus Detect™ Kit (In Bios International, USA) and an in-house IgM IFA (Australian Rickettsial Reference Laboratory, Geelong, Australia. The IFA assay was performed with the Gilliam, Karp, Kato strains and O. chuto antigens following the ARRL protocol. Result Statistical analysis of ELISA IgM results when compared to reference test, IgM IFA results demonstrated the following characteristics, sensitivity 84.0% (95%CI: 79.73%-87.68%), speci�city 94.82% (95% CI: 93.43%-95.99%), positive likelihood ratio 16.21% (95% CI: 12.71%-20.67%), negative likelihood ratio 0.17% (95% CI: 0.13-0.21%), disease prevalence 22.08% (95% CI: 20.06%-24.21%), positive predictive value 82.12% (95% CI: 78.28-85.42%) and negative predictive value 95.44% (95% CI: 94.27%-96.38%) respectively. Conclusion The study indicated that


This paper is motivated by the consistent portrayal, within current policy discourse, of agriculture and the broader rural economy in Africa as domains of opportunity for rural youth. It presents a new conceptualization of landscapes of rural youth opportunity, where these landscapes reflect an individual's reading of the complex interplay between economic geography; local history, agrarian relations, institutions and politics; social and cultural norms; family influences; education and experience; aspirations and preferences; and access to resources. The argument is that it is essential to acknowledge the importance of opportunity structures, and avoid anything that suggests that individual characteristics, such as agency, aspirations, skills, entrepreneurial behaviour and "good choices" should be the primary considerations in relation to an "investing in youth" strategy. The paper also presents new empirical analysis of young people's engagement with the rural economy using LSMS data from six African countries.


This article assesses shifting presumptions by three democracies -the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom – all of whom appear to have permanently adopted some alterations to their detention practices for certain terrorism-related cases since the attacks of September 11, 2001 (hereinafter "9/11"). A review of executive, legislative and judicial outcomes in these three countries often reveals an ongoing tension between the judiciary and the other branches of government, with the judiciary frequently citing to traditional constitutional principles to reassert the primacy of individual liberties and fair trial guarantees. In spite of such rulings, however, the advance towards some system of preventive detention and abridged judicial process for terrorism suspects continues, in various forms, in each of these countries. It appears that this ongoing tension between some national high courts and political branches of government may be based, in part, on the judicial role of safeguarding constitutional protections, while the other branches have increasingly become reliant upon a form of discourse that may be at odds with those principles, and much of which was developed in a time of perceived emergency. The premises on which detention practices have been altered may not have been fully assessed in the years after 9/11 by those in policy-making positions. This ongoing tension and continuing uncertainty as to the status of certain constitutional protections may have larger implications for the viability of long-standing constitutional norms, as well as for larger criminal-justice standards, and those implications must be further examined before any such changes do, indeed, become permanent.


This article examines the impact of recent changes in the management and organization of British broadcasting on gender. It follows two key lines of inquiry. The first explores the structural relations between men and women and argues that changes in the terms and conditions of work in the major broadcasting corporations have fallen disproportionately heavily on women. The second explores the discursive and cultural processes that work within broadcasting organizations to construct a range of gendered occupational identities. Although these still remain constrained for women, the new organizational arrangements have opened up spaces wherein women may challenge the traditional ways in which they have been represented and may construct alternative, more challenging, identities.


It is now nearly 40 years since Alfred Wainwright devised the elegant concept of a 190-mile walk across the north of England, linking the west and east coasts and covering some of the most spectacular scenery in the country. This book is a celebration of the magnificent landscapes on the walk from St. Bee's Head on the Irish Sea to Robin Hood's Bay on the North Sea. It highlights the changes in light, landscape and weather throughout the seasons which produce such a variety of different moods along the route. which passes through three of the country's most beautiful national parks (the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors) along with other less well-known but equally lovely regions, such as the Vales of Eden and Mowbray. The Coast to Coast encompasses a remarkable diversity of geology and land use which is reflected in its ever-changing character. By hours of planning and repeatedly returning to the route throughout the year, landscape photographer Karen Frenkel has captured its different moods and those transient moments when light and landscape combine to produce this beautiful and unusual set of images. Together with informative captions of both her experiences and information about the area, it is a beautiful record for the thousands of people who walk this route, but do not have the time or weather to record it in such detail for themselves.


The cocoa industry is suffering from a number of interconnected problems: Be this the over-aged tree stocks, the repercussions of disease and pest infestation, the political instability in West Africa, a lack of agricultural professionalism, an absence of infrastructure, or the shortcomings of the educational and financial systems in the cocoa-growing regions. A further problem is exploitative child labor on cocoa farms. Instead of continuing to wait for an international, legally-binding solution, numerous private and multi-stakeholder initiatives have been formed within the cocoa sector aimed at creating greater economic wealth and fairness, social justice in the producing countries, as well as social responsibility and ecological sustainability along the global value-added chain. To this end, sustainability standards are increasingly being applied in cocoa production. As demand for raw cocoa will continue to rise - training, improved production methods, rising productivity and promotion of diversification guarantee that cocoa of a consistently high quality and in quantities to meet market needs is offered by farmers in the future, thus also securing their long-term livelihoods.


This contribution aims to shed light on the specific mechanism of migrant categorization implemented by the so-called «Hotspot approach», which was launched by the EU Agenda on Migration in May 2015. This approach is here envisaged as a response to the current changes in the composition of migration towards Europe.
Provisions contained in EU and Italian policy documents are compared with concrete practices enacted on the ground by investigating two case studies: the initial opening of the Hotspot at Milo, in Trapani, and the first months of functioning of the Hotspot on Lampedusa. The empirical research covers the period between the last months of 2015 and the beginning of 2016.
The short-term consequences of the hotspot system have been the creation of thousands of irregularized migrants within the Italian territory, and a massive violation of the principles grounding the right to asylum. These consequences were so blatant to oblige Italian authorities to interrupt some of these practices. Yet, in the long term, this experimental phase can be regarded as a laboratory for the subsequent development of EU policies on migration and asylum.


This paper presents a non-linear stability analysis for dc-microgrids in both, interconnected mode and island operation with primary control. The proposed analysis is based on the fact that the dynamical model of the grid is a gradient system generated by a strongly convex function. The stability analysis is thus reduced to a series of convex optimization problems. The proposed method allows to: i) demonstrate the existence and uniqueness of the equilibrium ii) calculate this equilibrium numerically iii) give conditions for global stability using a Lyapunov function iv) estimate the attraction region. Previous works only address one of these aspects. Numeric calculations performed in cvx and simulations results in Matlab complement the analysis and demonstrate how to use this theoretical results in practical problems.


Point clouds and sets are input data-types which pose unique problems to deep learning. Since sets can have variable cardinality and are unchanged by permutation, the input space for these problems naturally form infinite-dimensional non-Euclidean spaces. Despite these mathematical difficulties, PointNet [17] and Deep Sets [30] introduced foundational neural network architectures to address these problems. In this paper we present a unified framework to study the expressive power of such networks as well as their extensions beyond point clouds (partially addressing a conjecture on the extendibility of DeepSets along the way). To this end, we demonstrate the crucial role that the Hausdorff and Wasserstein metrics play and prove new cardinality-agnostic universality results to characterize exactly which functions can be approximated by these models. In particular, these results imply that PointNet generally cannot approximate averages of continuous functions over sets (e.g. center-of-mass or higher moments) implying that DeepSets is strictly more expressive than PointNet in the constant cardinality setting. Moreover, we obtain explicit lower-bounds on the approximation error and present a simple method to produce arbitrarily many examples of this failure-mode. Counterintuitively, we also prove that in the unbounded cardinality setting that any function which can be uniformly approximated by both PointNet and normalized-DeepSets must be constant. Finally, we also prove theorems on the Lipschitz properties of PointNet and normalized-DeepSets which shed insight into exploitable inductive bias in these networks.


Gentzen's approach by transfinite induction and that of intuitionist Heyting arithmetic to completeness and the self-foundation of mathematics are compared and opposed to the Gödel incompleteness results as to Peano arithmetic. Quantum mechanics involves infinity by Hilbert space, but it is finitist as any experimental science. The absence of hidden variables in it interpretable as its completeness should resurrect Hilbert's finitism at the cost of relevant modification of the latter already hinted by intuitionism and Gentzen's approaches for completeness. This paper investigates both conditions and philosophical background necessary for that modification. The main conclusion is that the concept of infinity as underlying contemporary mathematics cannot be reduced to a single Peano arithmetic, but to at least two ones independent of each other. Intuitionism, quantum mechanics, and Gentzen's approaches to completeness an even Hilbert's finitism can be unified from that viewpoint. Mathematics may found itself by a way of finitism complemented by choice. The concept of information as the quantity of choices underlies that viewpoint. Quantum mechanics interpretable in terms of information and quantum information is inseparable from mathematics and its foundation.


Supported nickel catalysts have been prepared by coating mesoporous silica with nickel oxide through a sol-gel coating technology, other than the conventional impregnation procedure. Sol-gel nickel oxide coatings were first synthesized using nickel nitrate and lactic acid as precursors and then, deposited on the support of mesoporous silica SBA-15. Various synthetic parameters, such as the nickel/lactic acid molar ratio for the synthesis of the sol-gel coatings and the nickel/SBA-15 ratio for the preparation of the catalysts, were investigated. Scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis, X-ray diffraction, thermal analysis and attenuated total reflection fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were used to characterise the nickel oxide sol-gel coatings and the resulting supported catalysts. The catalytic activity was tested using the Catlab integrated system. Results showed that this sol-gel coating route produces uniform nickel oxide thin films and leads to a good distribution of the nickel oxide on the mesopore surface of SBA-15. Compared with the catalyst prepared by impregnation with nickel nitrate salt solutions, the catalysts prepared through the sol-gel coating route are superb in nickel loading and distribution. The mesostructure of the supported catalysts remain unchanged after calcinations at elevated temperatures. Moreover, their catalytic activity towards the dry reforming of methane reaction is higher at temperatures lower than 700°C.


Ten Mozambican Community Multimedia Centers (CMCs) were investigated by analyzing Social Representations of users and staff members. Photo‐elicitation, an underexplored methodological approach in the domain of Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D), was employed to conduct the study, and a three‐step qualitative content analysis was performed on both visual and textual data. Results tend to confirm and build upon outcomes from the existing literature on Public Access Venues (PAVs). Local communities value these centers because they bring social recognition to people working or learning there. The venues are associated with a symbolism that extends from the social recognition of the individual to the development and social inclusion of the whole community, which, because of the presence of the venue, does not feel left behind. In this vein, the study also shows that the importance of CMCs is often not related to the newest technology available, but to the technology that reaches the most of the community. The study also highlights neglected dimensions of CMCs, such as the importance of the exterior appearance of the venue, and the perception of a switch in their nature from static centers funded by third parties towards more entrepreneurial‐driven ones. The presented research also contributes to the ICT4D field by proposing a promising research protocol, which is able to elicit representations otherwise difficult to obtain.


This thesis considers the interrelationship between the discourse and performance of gender, national identity and political agency in Scotland during the Union debates of 1706-07 and the mid-to-late eighteenth-century Scottish Enlightenment. These two periods are offered in contrast to each other in order to demonstrate the means by which changing discourses of gender and national identity impacted upon the performance of political agency.
The first section of this thesis (Chapters 2 and 3) demonstrates that anti-Union discourse in 1706-07 was founded upon a conception of a masculine Scottish nationhood defined by 'heroick ancestors'. This is contrasted with women's political agency at the time, demonstrated most markedly by elite women's ability to influence parliamentary politics. I argue that despite masculinist discourses of nationhood, during the Union debates status was a more important determinant of political agency than gender. The second section of my thesis (Chapters 4, 5 and 6) considers the centrality of male refinement and 'civilised' femininity to discourses of North British nationhood in the context of the Scottish Enlightenment. I examine the construction and performance of male refinement within intellectual societies and convivial clubs and then consider women's limited inclusion in the urban Enlightenment public sphere, demonstrating that discourses of femininity necessarily precluded women's full public engagement in this sphere. The final chapter (Chapter 7) considers martial masculinity, particularly the masculine ideal of martial Highland manhood in order to demonstrate the problematic aspect of notions of hegemonic masculinity and in order to bring the story of the Highlands and Empire into the story of Enlightenment Scotland.
This thesis will demonstrate the centrality of gender to discourses of national identity and examine the impact of these on the performance of political agency in eighteenth-century Scotland and in doing so offers a contribution to the history of gender and political power.


Transformers are the largest part of the investments of transmission and distribution systems and have a considerable economic impact on the operation of an electrical network. It is advisable to know the insulation condition, operating life, and loading capacitance of transformer to ensure its economical operation and secured service. The most important parameter in transformers life expectancy is the insulation temperature level which accelerates the rate of aging of the insulation. In this study, the top-oil temperature is studied both for indoor and outdoor transformers and the thermal models proposed for them are compared. Since the thermal transfer is different for indoor and outdoor transformers considering their operating conditions, their thermal models differ from each other. In this study, the top-oil temperature is analyzed for indoor and outdoor transformers and the proposed thermal models are verified by the results obtained from the experiments carried out on different operating conditions.


Computer-based assessment can provide new insights into behavioral processes of task completion that cannot be uncovered by paper-based instruments. Time presents a major characteristic of the task completion process. Psychologically, time on task has 2 different interpretations, suggesting opposing associations with task outcome: Spending more time may be positively related to the outcome as the task is completed more carefully. However, the relation may be negative if working more fluently, and thus faster, reflects higher skill level. Using a dual processing theory framework, the present study argues that the validity of each assumption is dependent on the relative degree of controlled versus routine cognitive processing required by a task, as well as a person's acquired skill. A total of 1,020 persons ages 16 to 65 years participated in the German field test of the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies. Test takers completed computer-based reading and problem solving tasks. As revealed by linear mixed models, in problem solving, which required controlled processing, the time on task effect was positive and increased with task difficulty. In reading tasks, which required more routine processing, the time on task effect was negative and the more negative, the easier a task was. In problem solving, the positive time on task effect decreased with increasing skill level. In reading, the negative time on task effect increased with increasing skill level. These heterogeneous effects suggest that time on task has no uniform interpretation but is a function of task difficulty and individual skill.


This thesis presents en account of the analysis of the reactions π(^+) D → P(_s) P wo and π(^+) D → P(_s) P ηo at 4.0 GeV/c incident momentum, carried out by the author whilst at the University of Durham. The experiment, undertaken in collaboration with the University of Birmingham and the Rutherford Laboratory, is described in detail, particular emphasis being applied to the limitations of the experimental setup, the accuracy of the resulting data and the problems associated with the use of a deuterium target. Following a description of the selection of the channel π(^+) → P(_s) P π (^+) π(^-) π(^o) the production and decay processes of the w(^o) - mesons are analysed in detail. The results are compared with those from previous analyses and with the predictions of various Regge Pole models. To describe the various features of the data it is found necessary to infer the presence of significant contributions from unnatural parity exchanges such as the B - meson, in disagreement with the earlier theoretical interpretations which assumed the complete domination of the natural parity component, namely p - exchange. As part of this analysis the nature of the associated background is determined, and the results indicate the possible breakthrough of events from the 4c channel, π(^+)D → P(_s) P π(^+) π(^-)The characteristics of these events in the 1.0 GeV/c(^2) region of the tripion mass spectrum is investigated, and it is concluded that they may well affect the interpretation of the observed enhancements attributed to the controversial H and A(_1) resonances. Finally the production mechanism of the η - meson is analysed.


Ignimbrites, providing unique windows into magma reservoirs prior to explosive volcanic eruptions, are of two main types: (1) crystal-rich dacites, and (2) dominantly crystal-poor rhyolites. Crystal-rich dacites are typically homogeneous, while crystal-poor ignimbrites can display strong gradients in composition and crystallinity. This presents a conundrum, as the more viscous, crystal-rich units should be less prone to stirring and mixing. As ignimbrites typically erupt following a reheating event induced by recharge from below, this dichotomy reflects the competition between two time scales: (1) a thermal reactivation time scale that measures the time necessary to make a locked crystal mush rheologically eruptible (<50% crystals), and (2) a homogenization time scale associated with convective stirring. Using a well-constrained thermo-mechanical model of a magma reservoir, we show that the reactivation time scale of locked mushes is much greater than the time necessary to homogenize reservoirs by convective stirring. Hence, crystal-rich units, which require a reactivation stage, are inevitably well stirred. In contrast, crystal-poor magmas are rheologically ready to be mobilized without reactivation and need not be thoroughly mixed prior to eruption. This model provides an integrated picture of upper crustal reservoirs and has major implications for the link between shallow plutonic and volcanic rocks.


The International Conference of Frailty and Sarcopenia Research was held in Miami, Florida, in February of 2019 (1). The 9th edition of this conference had the highest attendance rate since its debut and is now a major venue that attracts the best key opinion leaders in the field of sarcopenia and frailty. Approximately 400- 500 delegates from around the world shared their results across the spectrum of research, from animal studies targeting novel mechanisms to large clinical trials for improving function, reducing disability, and improving quality of life in aging persons. With the recent implementation of ICD-10 code for sarcopenia (2), more and more industry leaders are looking for novel strategies and treatments counteracting the decline of skeletal muscle and physical function. By identifying sarcopenia as a disease (2) and the increasing number of older adults in the world (3), targeting and understanding the process of sarcopenia will be essential for geriatricians and gerontologists in the coming years. This paper will present the major highlights of this conference.


For over twenty years, software inspection has been advocated as a simple, cost-effective technique for defect detection in all types of documents. Essentially, a number of participants review a document with the aim of discovering defects. Many positive experience reports have been published demonstrating its benefits, and there are now a number of variations on the basic inspection method. In recent years, there have been a number of attempts to further increase inspection efficiency by the introduction of tool support, resulting in a number of prototype systems. In general, however, existing systems tend to suffer from three major shortcomings. The first concerns their inability to easily support a number of different inspection processes, as well as the inspection of a variety of document types. Existing tools also treat the move to computer-based inspection as a simple change of medium, when there are opportunities to greatly enhance the process. Finally, evaluation of the effectiveness of these tools is sparse. This thesis describes work tackling these deficiencies. Support for multiple inspection processes was achieved by developing a high-level process description language which can be used as input to an inspection tool. A prototype tool was developed which implements this language and also provides a simple mechanism for supporting inspection of multiple document types. This tool was also used to investigate a number of methods for increasing the efficiency of inspection, including cross-referencing within and between documents, active checklists and automatic collation of defect lists. In addition, two controlled experiments comparing paper-based and tool-based inspection were performed, the first of their kind. These experiments could reveal no performance difference between methods.


This paper presents a novel scheme for Chinese text recognition in images and videos. It's different from traditional paradigms that binarize text images, fed the binarized text to an OCR engine and get the recognized results. The proposed scheme, named grayscale based Chinese Image Text Recognition (gCITR), implements the recognition directly on grayscale pixels via the following steps: image text over-segmentation, building recognition graph, Chinese character recognition and beam search determination. The advantages of gCITR lie in: (1) it does not heavily rely on the performance of binarization, which is not robust in practical and thus severely affects the performance of OCR, (2) grayscale image retains more information of the text thus facilitates the recognition. Experimental results on text from 13 TV news videos demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed gCITR, from which significant performance gains are observed.


Anthropogenic disturbance of the soil nitrogen cycle by changes in nitrogen and carbon availability influences the production of N2O and NH 3 emissions to the atmosphere affecting the environment and human health. This dissertation presents a new method for automated gas chromatographic analysis of N2O and NH3 and quantifies fluxes from a salt marsh and tropical rain forest. The automated system used single column gas chromatograhic separation on HayeSep Q and electron capture detection. Air (N2+O 2), N2O and NH3 are separated with retention times of 0.9, 1.7 and 2.15 minutes respectively. Samples were stored in headspace autosampler vials until analysis. The precision was 3--7% RSD for standards of N2O with a LOD of 0.001 ppmv and 3--12% RSD for standards of NH3 with a LOD of 0.002 ppmv. Nitrogen dynamics of an oil contaminated salt marsh (Spartina alterniflora) were examined to assess the effects of three bioremediation strategies: air purging, nitrate addition and full fertilizer addition. Compared to values reported in uncontaminated marshes N2O fluxes were lower by a factor of 7, and NH3 fluxes were slightly higher. This suggests that the petroleum had an inhibitory affect on denitrification but not mineralization. Extractable NO3levels were 2--5 fold lower than those reported in the literature and NH4+ levels were 3 to 80 fold higher. The higher NH4+ levels suggest that oil contamination might inhibit nitrification and as a result could explain the reduced levels of NO3and N2O flux. Hurricanes in the Caribbean can cause short term disturbances in trace gas flux, litter fall and plant structure in forests. The hurricane appears to have increased the N2O flux four fold, and caused a 40% increase in NO3soil concentration while the NH4+ soil concentration is lower by two fold than previous levels (1995--97). N2O flux and NO3concentrations returned to previous levels after 27 months, but not NH4+ concentrations. A correlation between NH3 and N2O flux suggests that the increased "litter pulse" from deforestation results in increased N availability in the soil and thus an increase in N 2O flux.