Recently, we found an elevated frequency of 6thioguanine-resistant (TGr) mutations at the hyoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (hprt) gene in T cells of peripheral blood from atomic bomb survivors and slight, but significant, positive correlation between the frequency of mutation and radiation dose. Southern blot analysis of DNA from TGr mutant T cells of atomic bomb survivors, however, failed to show a significant difference between the control and survivor groups. We here report mutational events at the hprt locus of TGr mutant T cell clones from atomic bomb survivors as found by (i) the multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and (ii) the reverse transcription (RT)-PCR of cDNA and sequencing. The numbers of independent TGr mutant T cell clones examined were 41 from a control group of 18 individuals who had received less than 0.005 Gy and 50 from an exposed group of 24 individuals who had received more than 1.5 Gy (mean dose 2.45 ± 0.85 Gy). Gross structural alterations, which were detected by multiplex PCR as a loss of or shift in hprt exon-containing fragments of genomic DNA, were found in 10-15% of the clones from both groups, thus indicating that there was no significant difference between them. The altered sequences in the HPRT cDNAs recovered from both groups were of various types. Similar proportions of base substitutions (-45%), deletions or insertions (-25%) and exon skipping (-20%) were found in both groups, indicating that neither the gross structural alterations in the genomic DNA nor sequence alterations in the hprt cDNA of both groups differ significantly. These results confirm our previous observation that A-bomb-induced HPRTmutant cells have mostly been eliminated from the peripheral blood over the decades that have elapsed since exposure. Some unique features of the mutational sequence alterations found are also described.


Giant Galápagos tortoises represent an interesting model for the study of patterns of genetic divergence and adaptive differentiation related to island colonization events. Recent mitochondrial DNA work elucidated the evolutionary history of the species and helped to clarify aspects of nomenclature. We used 10 microsatellite loci to assess levels of genetic divergence among and within island populations. In particular, we described the genetic structure of tortoises on the island of Isabela, where discrimination of different taxa is still subject of debate. Individual island populations were all genetically distinct. The island of Santa Cruz harboured two distinct populations. On Isabela, populations of Volcan Wolf, Darwin and Alcedo were significantly different from each other. On the other hand, Volcan Wolf showed allelic similarity with the island of Santiago. On Southern Isabela, lower genetic divergence was found between Northeast Sierra Negra and Volcan Alcedo, while patterns of gene flow were recorded among tortoises of Cerro Azul and Southeast Sierra Negra. These tortoises have endured heavy exploitation during the last three centuries and recently attracted much concern due to the current number of stochastic and deterministic threats to extant populations. Our study complements previous investigation based on mtDNA diversity and provides further information that may help devising tortoise management plans.


"All is true," realist writers would say of their work, to which critics now respond: All is art and artifice. Offering a new approach to reading nineteenth-century realist fiction, Lilian R. Furst seeks to reconcile these contradictory claims. In doing so, she clarifies the deceptions, appropriations, intentions, and ultimately the power of literary realism.

In close textual analyses of works ranging across European and American literature, including paradigmatic texts by Balzac, Flaubert, George Eliot, Zola, Henry James, and Thomas Mann, Furst shows how the handling of time, the presentation of place, and certain narrational strategies have served the realists' claim. She demonstrates how readers today, like those a hundred years ago, are convinced of the authenticity of the created illusion by such means as framing, voice, perspective, and the slippage from metonymy to metaphor. Further, Furst reveals the pains the realists took to conceal these devices, and thus to protect their claim to be employing a simple form. Taking into account both the claims and the covert strategies of these writers, All Is True puts forward an alternative to the conventional polarized reading of the realist text—which emerges here as neither strictly an imitation of an extraneous model nor simply a web of words but a brilliantly complex imbrication of the two.

A major statement on one of the most enduring forms in cultural history, this book promises to alter not only our view of realist fiction but our understanding of how we read it.


Constructing software bears many similarities to constructing buildings. In a building project, each floor builds on the previous structures (walls of the previous floors) with some structures being more foundational (i.e. essential) for other structures and some periods of construction being more foundational (i.e. critical) to the final structure. In a software project, each change builds on the structures created by prior changes with some changes creating foundational structure and with some time periods of changes being more foundational than others. This thesis is inspired by this similarity between constructing buildings and constructing software. The thesis makes use of the similarity to study the evolution of software projects. In particular, we develop the concept of time dependence between code changes to study software evolution through empirical studies on two large open source projects (PostgreSQL and FreeBSD) with more than 25 years of development history. We show that time dependence can be used to study how changes build on prior changes and the impact of this building process on the quality of a project. We show how a development period impacts the development of future periods in a project. We also show how a subsystem (module) of a project builds on other subsystems and we identify the subsystems that have high impact on a project's development. Using i this knowledge, managers can better monitor the progress of the projects and better plan for future changes.


ObjectiveTo highlight the new science of population and urban metabolism metrology, for characterizing human exposures to biological agents, narcotics, antimicrobials and other contaminants of emerging concern using community wastewater as a diagnostic matrix.IntroductionSewerage systems of villages, townships, cities and megacities convey the urine, stool, blood, and sputum of community members, enabling through analysis of community wastewater, a near real-time assessment of population health status and of emerging public health threats. Signature compounds and biomarkers targeted analytically for surveillance may include chemical and biological threat agents, transformation products of the same, human metabolites, biomarkers of exposure and other markers of interest. Additional information can be gleaned by analyzing, in a similar fashion, municipal sewage sludge resulting from wastewater treatment, a material that during treatment becomes enriched in persistent, hydrophobic and potentially bioaccumulative pollutants, while more biodegradable compounds are converted to methane mostly. When taken together, these multi-dimensional data sources promise to yield critical information on the health status, sustainability and resilience of rural and urban human populations in a new scientific approach termed population metabolism metrology, or for city environments, urban metabolism metrology.MethodsStarting in 2001, samples of wastewater and municipal sludge were collected from cities across the United States and from around the world. Obtained samples were logged, archived and split samples analyzed for chemical and biological markers of human health concern. Sampling and analyses are ongoing. The sample archive is a shared resource available to the international research community.ResultsOver the course of 15+ years, wastewater and municipal sludges from over 300 cities around the world have been collected (see Figure below). The resultant expansive specimen archive today is known as the Human Health Observatory (HHO) at Arizona State University. It constitutes the largest repository of wastewater process flow samples in the world. The municipal sludge samples contained in the Human Health Observatory constitute the U.S. National Sewage Sludge Repository (NSSR) and international Sewage Sludge Repository (iSSR). Archived samples have been analyzed for over 300 chemical and biological threat agents, resulting in U.S. national inventories of dozens of harmful chemicals, time- and space-resolved insights into human exposure to pesticides and substances of abuse, the identification of chemical threats fostering drug resistance and antibiotic cross-resistance, and the discovery of hundreds of novel viruses of potential human health importance. Public health and policy events informed by the HHO and NSSR include the U.S. federal ban of antimicrobials in personal care products regulated by the U.S Food and Drug Administration, and the Florence Statement of Triclosan and Triclocarban, a global call for elimination of unnecessary and ineffective antimicrobials from consumer products.ConclusionsThe analysis of wastewater and municipal sewage sludges collected at centralized wastewater treatment facilities around the world represents an effective, inexpensive and rapid approach for public health assessment and threat detection. Among the notable success stories thus far are the 2017 US FDA ban of multiple antimicrobials whose overuse has been linked to the emergence of drug resistance and cross-resistance of human pathogens to antibiotics used in human medicine.ReferencesMagee, H. Y.; Maurer, M. M.; Cobos, A.; Pycke, B. F. G.; Venkatesan, A. K.; Magee, D.; Scotch, M.; Halden, R. U., US nationwide reconnaissance of ten infrequentlymonitored antibiotics in municipal biosolids. Sci Total Environ 2018, 643, 460-467.Halden, R. U. Invited Plenary Talk: Urban metabolism metrology: a new discipline elucidating the human condition in cities around the world, 252nd American Chemical Society's National Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, August 21-25, 2016.Venkatesan, A. K.; Done, H. Y.; Halden, R. U., United States National Sewage Sludge Repository at Arizona State University-a new resource and research tool for environmental scientists, engineers, and epidemiologists. Environ Sci Pollut R 2015, 22, (3), 1577-1586.Venkatesan, A. K.; Halden, R. U., Wastewater Treatment Plants as Chemical Observatories to Forecast Ecological and Human Health Risks of Manmade Chemicals. Sci Rep-Uk 2014, 4.Muhire, B. M.; Varsani, A.; Martin, D. P., SDT: A Virus Classification Tool Based on Pairwise Sequence Alignment and Identity Calculation. Plos One 2014, 9, (9).Cheung, K. H.; Yip, K. Y.; Townsend, J. P.; Scotch, M., HCLS 2.0/3.0: Health care and life sciences data mashup using Web 2.0/3.0. J Biomed Inform 2008, 41, (5), 694-705.


This project is aiming at helping deaf people to listen to music through vibrotactile sensation. In this thesis, music is converted into vibrations through extraction of rhythmic pattern of music. By using this approach people particularly who suffer from deafness are able to be touched by music and enjoy vibrations of music on their skin. This work is mainly based on two remarkable jobs, which have been previously done in this field. One aimed at converting environmental sound to its vibrations to help deaf individuals to be able to conjecture what kinds of actions occurring in the environment surrounded them. This method teaches people to make very likely conjectures to connect the vibration to its associated environmental sound. The second work fulfilled to convert music to its vibration.This work has achieved a great performance in terms of having precise conjectures of subjects for associating music to its vibration. The latter work has focused only on the pop music.


The lockdown and other restrictive measures introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic and the ensuing economic recession have had a strong impact on labour markets worldwide. As far as the European Union (EU) is concerned, the accelerated fall in total employment was the 'sharpest decline ever observed over two successive quarters since 1995'. Unemployment, however, decreased moderately over 2020, although to differing extents in individual Member States and at different paces during the various lockdown phases. This exceptional and unpredictable context puts the pivotal role of social protection squarely in the spotlight, reminding policymakers and citizens of the essential role of strong social security to cushion against potential disastrous social impacts and job destruction. Various job retention schemes have played an important role as automatic stabilisers to preserve millions of jobs.The purpose of the present study is to map key social protection measures taken during the pandemic from the perspective of fragmentation of labour market statuses, notably by focusing on non-standard workers and the self-employed as well as taking into account the gender dimension of these social protection measures. The analysis focuses on the 27 EU Member States, covering the period of the first wave of the pandemic: from the beginning of the lockdown measures (for most countries at the beginning of March 2020) until 31 December 2020.The remainder of the publication is structured as follows. Section 1 discusses the relevance and research design and explains the broader project of which this analysis is part. Section 2 describes the measures taken regarding unemployment benefits during the pandemic. Section 3 focuses on sick pay and sickness benefits. Section 4 discusses the special Covid-19 parental leave arrangements. The conclusions highlight the main trends in the measures taken during the first wave of the pandemic as well as their relevance for non-standard workers and the selfemployed.


This paper introduces interior point algorithm as an alternative approach to simplex algorithm for solving farm resource allocation problem. The empirical result of interior point algorithm is compared with that of the simplex algorithm. It goes further to address a profit maximization problem. The result revealed several relevant patterns. Results of the interior point algorithm is similar to that of the simplex algorithm. Findings indicated that in both algorithms, the farm is to produce peppers, wheat which is irrigated and weeded manually, hire additional month of labour, and also purchase urea and muriate fertilizer to realize a similar amount of profit. Additionally, both algorithms suggested that practicing crop rotation where beans, if grown, should be altered with wheat cannot be possible since no beans will be grown. The Simplex algorithm saves 39 iterations over Interior Point algorithm in solving the farm resource allocation problem. The findings demonstrate that the interior point algorithm offers a useful alternative to the simplex algorithm when addressing farm resource allocation problem.


Information visualization is a powerful method for understanding and working with data. However, we still have an incomplete understanding of how people use visualization to think about information. We propose that people use visualization to support comprehension and reasoning by viewing abstract visual representations as physical scenes with a set of implied dynamics between objects. Inferences based on these implied dynamics are metaphorically extended to form inferences about the represented information. This view predicts that even seemingly meaningless properties of a visualization, including such minor design elements as borders, background areas, and the connectedness of parts, may affect how people perceive semantic aspects of data by suggesting different potential dynamics between data points. We present a study that supports this claim and discuss the design implications of this theory of information visualization.


A circular holographic display that consists of phase-only spatial light modulators is used to reconstruct images in visible light from digital holograms recorded under infrared (10.6 μm) illumination. The reconstruction yields a holographic digital video display of a three-dimensional ghostlike image of an object floating in space where observers can move and rotate around it.


Slides from a presentation discussing the integration of support for data set sharing and management in an established institutional repository system, within the larger framework of an academic library that is working to expand its research support services in a climate of budget cuts and decreased resources. UNCG enhances the discoverability of institutional research data and provides a local option to assist researchers in fulfilling requirements set by funding agencies and data management plans through a partnership between the Odum Institute at UNC Chapel Hill and NC DOCKS, UNCG's institutional repository (http://libres.uncg.edu/ir/uncg/). The expansion of research support and data set services at UNCG has brought increased needs for metadata support, both in the electronic systems associated with the project, and in providing training and support to researchers and liaison librarians. The presenter will give an overview of project roles, workflows, challenges, and lessons learned, with a focus on metadata-related issues. This presentation was delivered online on June 2, 2015 as part of the ALCTS Metadata Interest Group ALA Virtual Preconference: "Planning for the Evolving Role of Metadata Services."


Over the past decades, numerous loss functions have been been proposed for a variety of supervised learning tasks, including regression, classification, ranking, and more generally structured prediction. Understanding the core principles and theoretical properties underpinning these losses is key to choose the right loss for the right problem, as well as to create new losses which combine their strengths. In this paper, we introduce Fenchel-Young losses, a generic way to construct a convex loss function for a regularized prediction function. We provide an in-depth study of their properties in a very broad setting, covering all the aforementioned supervised learning tasks, and revealing new connections between sparsity, generalized entropies, and separation margins. We show that Fenchel-Young losses unify many well-known loss functions and allow to create useful new ones easily. Finally, we derive efficient predictive and training algorithms, making Fenchel-Young losses appealing both in theory and practice.


■ This fMRI study aimed at unraveling the neural basis of learning alphabet – arithmetic facts, as a proxy of the transition from slow and effortful procedural counting-based processing to fast and effortless processing as it occurs in learning addition arithmetic facts. Neural changes were tracked while participants solved alphabet – arithmetic problems in a verification task (e.g., F + 4 = J). Problems were repeated across four learning blocks. Two neural networks with opposed learning-related changes were identified. Activity in a network consisting of basal ganglia and parieto-frontal areas decreased with learning, which is in line with a reduction of the involvement of procedure-based processing. Conversely, activity in a network involving the left angular gyrus and, to a lesser extent, the hippocampus gradually increases with learning, evidencing the gradual involvement of retrieval-based processing. Connectivity analyses gave insight in the functional relationship between the two networks. Despite the opposing learning-related trajectories, it was found that both networks become more integrated. Taking alphabet – arithmetic as a proxy for learning arithmetic, the present results have implications for current theories of learning arithmetic facts and can give direction to future developments. ■


How are optimal taxes affected by the presence of superstar phenomena at the top of the earnings distribution? To answer this question, we extend the Mirrlees model to incorporate an assignment problem in the labor market that generates superstar effects. Perhaps surprisingly, rather than providing a rationale for higher taxes, we show that superstar effects provide a force for lower marginal taxes, conditional on the observed distribution of earnings. Superstar effects make the earnings schedule convex, which increases the responsiveness of individual earnings to tax changes. We show that various common elasticity measures are not sufficient statistics and must be adjusted upwards in optimal tax formulas. Finally, we study a comparative static that does not keep the observed earnings distribution fixed: when superstar technologies are introduced, inequality increases but we obtain a neutrality result, finding tax rates at the top unaltered.


The Trestles system is targeted to modest-scale and gateway users, and is designed to enhance users' productivity by maintaining good turnaround time as well as other user-friendly features such as long run times and user reservations. However, the goal of maintaining good throughput competes with the goal of high system utilization. This paper analyzes one year of Trestles operations to characterize the empirical relationship between utilization and throughput, with the objectives of understanding their relationship, and informing allocations and scheduling policies to optimize their tradeoff. There is considerable scatter in the correlation between utilization and throughput, as measured by expansion factor. There are periods of good throughput at both low and high utilizations, while there are other periods when throughput degrades significantly not only at high utilization but even at low utilization. However, throughput consistently degrades above ~90% utilization. User behavior clearly impacts the expansion factor metrics: the great majority of jobs with extreme expansion factors are associated with a very small fraction of users who either (1) flood the queue with many jobs or (2) request job run times far in excess of actual run times. While the former is a user workflow choice, the latter clearly demonstrates the benefit of matching requested time to actual run time. Utilization and throughput metrics derived from XDMoD are compared for Trestles with two other XSEDE systems, Ranger and Kraken, with different sizes and allocation/scheduling policies. Both Ranger and Kraken have generally higher utilization and, not surprisingly, higher expansion factors than Trestles over the analysis period. As a result of this analysis, we intend to increase the target allocation fraction from the current 70% to ~75-80%, and strongly advise users to reasonably match requested run times to actual run times.


The green synthesis of nanoparticles is an important branch and a relatively new emerging field in nanotechnology which is easy, environmentally friendly, cost effective, and economically efficient in comparison with the chemical and physical methods. In the present work, for the first time, green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) was carried out by using fructose solution as a reducing agent at room temperature. The silver nanoparticles were characterized by UV-Vis, FTIR, XRD, and TEM analysis. The UV-Vis spectral studies confirmed the surface plasmon resonance of the green synthesized silver nanoparticles. The role of different functional groups in formation of the AgNps was shown by FTIR. X-ray diffraction results confirmed the formation of the the AgNPs and TEM results indicated that the average particle size of the silver nanoparticles was 13.24±8.591 nm.


Coryneform bacteria are aerobically growing, asporogenous, non-partially-acid-fast, gram-positive rods of irregular morphology. Within the last few years, there has been a massive increase in the number of publications related to all aspects of their clinical microbiology. Clinical microbiologists are often confronted with making identifications within this heterogeneous group as well as with considerations of the clinical significance of such isolates. This review provides comprehensive information on the identification of coryneform bacteria and outlines recent changes in taxonomy. The following genera are covered: Corynebacterium, Turicella, Arthrobacter, Brevibacterium, Dermabacter. Propionibacterium, Rothia, Exiguobacterium, Oerskovia, Cellulomonas, Sanguibacter, Microbacterium, Aureobacterium, "Corynebacterium aquaticum," Arcanobacterium, and Actinomyces. Case reports claiming disease associations of coryneform bacteria are critically reviewed. Minimal microbiological requirements for publications on disease associations of coryneform bacteria are proposed.


Written by leaders and experts in hospital and health-system practices and published by ASHP, the voice of the health-system pharmacy profession, Introduction to Hospital and Health-System Pharmacy Practice is required reading for students and practitioners alike. It's a comprehensive manual for institutional pharmacy: legal and regulatory issues, medication safety, informatics, and more. Straightforward definitions and clear explanations provide a basic foundation for on-the-job training in hospitals and health-systems. It's the only introductory textbook available in institutional pharmacy practice. This practical guide offers a highly readable introduction to key areas of pharmacy practice, including:* Managing medication use* Managing medication distribution* Using technology in health systems* Budgeting & finance responsibilities* Administering and prepping sterile products* Managing people* Training options for careers Each chapter presents learning objectives and answers the "so what?" so common among student questions. Chapter reviews, discussion guidelines, key word definitions and interactive exercises augment the learning process. Written by hospital pharmacists for future hospital pharmacists, it's everything important you need to know from the name you trust.


After technical textiles and functional textiles, also smart textiles came into force a few years ago. The term 'smart textiles' covers a broad range. The application possibilities are only limited by our imagination and creativity. This paper gives an overview of the functions that can be achieved by smart textiles in general. In vehicles as well, smart textiles can introduce new features. Two examples are described, namely climate control based on comfort of the passengers, and detection of reduced attention of a driver.


ABSTRACT Recent studies have demonstrated that dysregulation of macroautophagy/autophagy may play a central role in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders, and the induction of autophagy protects against the toxic insults of aggregate-prone proteins by enhancing their clearance. Thus, autophagy has become a promising therapeutic target against neurodegenerative diseases. In this study, quantitative phosphoproteomic profiling together with a computational analysis was performed to delineate the phosphorylation signaling networks regulated by 2 natural neuroprotective autophagy enhancers, corynoxine (Cory) and corynoxine B (Cory B). To identify key regulators, namely, protein kinases, we developed a novel network-based algorithm of in silico Kinome Activity Profiling (iKAP) to computationally infer potentially important protein kinases from phosphorylation networks. Using this algorithm, we observed that Cory or Cory B potentially regulated several kinases. We predicted and validated that Cory, but not Cory B, downregulated a well-documented autophagy kinase, RPS6KB1/p70S6K (ribosomal protein S6 kinase, polypeptide 1). We also discovered 2 kinases, MAP2K2/MEK2 (mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 2) and PLK1 (polo-like kinase 1), to be potentially upregulated by Cory, whereas the siRNA-mediated knockdown of Map2k2 and Plk1 significantly inhibited Cory-induced autophagy. Furthermore, Cory promoted the clearance of Alzheimer disease-associated APP (amyloid β [A4] precursor protein) and Parkinson disease-associated SNCA/α-synuclein (synuclein, α) by enhancing autophagy, and these effects were dramatically diminished by the inhibition of the kinase activities of MAP2K2 and PLK1. As a whole, our study not only developed a powerful method for the identification of important regulators from the phosphoproteomic data but also identified the important role of MAP2K2 and PLK1 in neuronal autophagy.


We have developed a new, unified implementation of the adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscope (AOSLO) incorporating a wide-field line-scanning ophthalmoscope (LSO) and a closed-loop optical retinal tracker. AOSLO raster scans are deflected by the integrated tracking mirrors so that direct AOSLO stabilization is automatic during tracking. The wide-field imager and large-spherical-mirror optical interface design, as well as a large-stroke deformable mirror (DM), enable the AOSLO image field to be corrected at any retinal coordinates of interest in a field of >25 deg. AO performance was assessed by imaging individuals with a range of refractive errors. In most subjects, image contrast was measurable at spatial frequencies close to the diffraction limit. Closed-loop optical (hardware) tracking performance was assessed by comparing sequential image series with and without stabilization. Though usually better than 10 μm rms, or 0.03 deg, tracking does not yet stabilize to single cone precision but significantly improves average image quality and increases the number of frames that can be successfully aligned by software-based post-processing methods. The new optical interface allows the high-resolution imaging field to be placed anywhere within the wide field without requiring the subject to re-fixate, enabling easier retinal navigation and faster, more efficient AOSLO montage capture and stitching.


The lipid composition of biological membranes can differ significantly between organisms and even between organelles of the same cell in terms of lipid compounds and specific ratios of lipid classes. Referring to this, every membrane features a characteristic lipid composition that is thought to regulate its physicochemical properties and cellular function by providing lipid environments supporting the integrity of membrane-localized protein machinery and membrane-associated processes. Chapter I gives a brief overview of the interlinkage between the chemical nature of membrane lipids, the structural and functional organization as well as the physicochemical properties of lipid bilayers and their influence on membrane-embedded proteins.
Studies to gain detailed knowledge on how membrane lipid composition influences the physiology of cells and regulates cellular processes require tools to manipulate lipid composition in vivo. By employing metabolic engineering approaches based on titratable gene expression tools, sets of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains in which membrane lipid composition is under experimental control were engineered. The study described in Chapter II addresses OLE1, encoding for the sole fatty acid desaturase of budding yeast, to control the extent of acyl unsaturation of fatty acids incorporated in phospholipids. This approach revealed cellular roles for the physical state of cell membranes, so called membrane fluidity, on yeast flocculation and hypoxic growth. It is shown, how the endogenous lipid homeostasis machinery of budding yeast is adapted to carry out a broad response to oxygen limitation (hypoxia) and how it activates a non-canonical yeast flocculation pathway involving FLO1, which encodes for cell wall glycoproteins that mediate cell-cell-interactions by binding cell wall mannose residues of adjacent cells.
In Chapter III, the previously generated strain in which expression of OLE1 is under experimental control was used as a cellular platform to assay the activity of heterologously expressed stearoyl-CoA desaturases (SCDs). Putative SCDs from human pathogens T. brucei and T. cruzi were functionally expressed in S. cerevisiae, thereby additionally confirming their SCD activity in vivo. The presented assay might also provide a tool to screen for inhibitors of SCDs, which are interesting drug targets in the treatment of bacterial and parasitic infections in humans.
The study presented in Chapter IV addresses ERG9, an essential gene involved in the ergosterol biosynthetic pathway and used a metabolic engineering approach to achieve control over the total sterol biosynthetic activity of the cell. Cells that allowed for manipulating the native sterol homeostasis were employed to unveil physiological effects of ergosterol and total sterol depletion on the cell's general viability as well as on fundamental membrane associated processes such as protein sorting and endo- and exocytosis. By combining this metabolic engineering approach and the powerful method of marker-free CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene tagging, it was possible to establish a cellular system for investigating the impact of sterol depletion on the lateral distribution pattern of lipid-raft associated GFP-tagged membrane proteins within the plasma membrane of yeast.
Chapter V introduces a novel set of all-in-one constitutive and inducible CRISPR/Cas9 vectors that allow for a very easy and highly convenient application of the technology in S. cerevisiae. The simplicity of the inducible system is based on the possibility of introducing a desired gRNA targeting sequence with homologous recombination-mediated assembly of overlapping single-stranded oligonucleotides. The inducible Cas9 expression approach also introduces the novel concept of chronologically separating the cloning procedure from the actual genome editing step by preloading cells with an all-in-one CRISPR/Cas9 plasmid. This way, CRISPR/Cas9-supported genome editing can be obtained with high efficiency and effectivity by just transforming a desired preloaded target strain with donor DNA to be genomically integrated without the need of co-introducing any of the CRISPR system components. These novel CRISPR/Cas9 systems will help to overcome limitations often observed for challenging metabolic and genetic engineering approaches that can be e.g. used for following studies to reveal physiological roles of membrane lipids for budding yeast.


A novel structure reducing diameter polarization maintaining optical fiber with high birefringence and strength is introduced. The fiber is fabricated through using modified chemical vapor deposition (MCVD) method, which is able to produce the optimum predicted character-1 shaped fiber structure. As a result, a low-loss fiber with beat length close to 2.0 mm at 1310 nm wavelength and extinction ratio approximately -25 dB has been produced. The process is both simple and reproducible.


A study of the aquatic invertebrate communities from two locations (Location 1 and Location 2) within the Matapouri catchment in Northland, New Zealand, was conducted to assess community structure in differing local-scale habitats. Four data collection methods were utilised generating 33,058 adult or larval invertebrates. The sampling methods comprised benthic kick-sampling, sticky trapping, light trapping, and emergence trapping. For the sticky trapping and light trapping, sampling was carried out at three different sites (Sites 1–3) within each location. The sites were situated within three habitat types; native forest, native forest-fringe, and raupo wetland. Emergence trapping also commenced within the three sites, at both locations, but was discontinued after two months, due to the equipment being destroyed by consecutive flooding events (method described in Appendix 1). Benthic sampling was carried out within the Forest and Forest-fringe habitats. Benthic sampling, sticky trapping, and light trapping were carried out following a monthly schedule between June and November 2005. Conductivity, pH, and water temperature measurements were taken concurrently with benthic sampling on a monthly basis, while water velocity and substrate measurements were taken once to assist in habitat characterisation.

Overall, 71 taxa were recorded by benthic sampling over the six month period, with a mean of approximately 30 taxa per site per month. In comparison with similar studies elsewhere in New Zealand, a figure of around 30 taxa per sample was high. The benthic macroinvertebrate fauna at all sites was dominated by Trichoptera (19 taxa), Diptera (16 taxa) and Ephemeroptera (10 taxa). This pattern of diversity is similar to that reported in other New Zealand studies. However, in contrast to previous studies, the leptophlebiid mayfly genus Deleatidium was not numerically dominant over the rest of the community, and other leptophlebiid genera (Acanthophlebia, Atalophlebioides, Mauiulus and Zephlebia) were equally represented, possibly reflecting niche partitioning between the groups. The genus Nesameletus was not recorded at any site, despite being one of the core mayfly species in New Zealand streams. The rare mayfly Isothraulus abditus was recorded at one of the forest locations. There are no published records of this species from Northland. Although acknowledged as another of the core New Zealand benthic taxa, the hydropsychid caddisfly Aoteapsyche was not recorded during the study. However, another hydropsychid, Orthopsyche, was commonly recorded, and these may be filling a similar niche to the Aoteapsyche genus.
In contrast to the Trichoptera, Diptera, and Ephemeroptera, the Plecoptera fauna was relatively depauperate, probably reflecting the warmer climate of the region and lack of temperature-buffered spring-fed streams. Surprisingly, Zelandobius, a core New Zealand genus, was absent but is regularly recorded in Northland. A species of conservation interest, Spaniocercoides watti, currently recognised as a Northland endemic, was recorded in low numbers.
There were no apparent trends in diversity or abundance of benthic invertebrates over time. Also, there were no significant differences in species diversity between the two locations. However, in many cases, taxa were more abundant at Location 2. This may have been due to steeper gradients at Location 2, and the consequent effects on substrate size and streambed stability, as all other physical factors appeared similar between locations. Although several significant differences of individual benthic taxa were recorded, no broad effect of habitat (sites) on species diversity was observable. However, at Location 2, abundances were significantly higher at Site 3 (Forest) compared to Site 2 (Forest-fringe). The reasons were uncertain, but may be attributed to higher retention of allochthonous organic materials, trapped by in-stream cover and larger substrates.
Investigations of adult stages by sticky traps supported benthic results recording community compositions and abundances dominated by Trichoptera and Diptera. Plecoptera were poorly represented. Location 2 recorded higher abundances of taxa, particularly Ephemeroptera and Plecoptera. Investigations of adult stages by light traps however did not produce any statistically significant differences in abundances between sites, between locations, or between sites across locations, and it is believed to be due to limited sampling replication combined with some biases of light trapping.
This study indicates that the aquatic invertebrate community at Matapouri is diverse but also reasonably representative. Several rare or uncommon insects inhabit the catchment. It is therefore important that Iwi and the local Landcare Group, who invited and supported this research, together with the Department of Conservation, continue their efforts in protecting these areas. The resident fauna have the capacity to restock areas downstream, which are intended to be improved and restored through sediment control and riparian management.


We present a theory of nominal wage adjustment based on worker loss aversion, along the lines of prospect theory. Wage changes are evaluated relative to an endogenous reference wage, which depends on the workers' rational wage expectations from the recent past. By implication, firms face an upward-sloping labor supply curve that is convexly kinked at the workers' reference wage. Firms adjust wages flexibly in response to variations in labor demand, incorporating the endogenous response of the reference wage. The resulting theory of wage adjustment is starkly at variance with past theories. In line with the empirical evidence, we find that (1) wages are completely rigid in response to small labor demand shocks, (2) wages are downward rigid but upward flexible for medium-sized labor demand shocks, and (3) wages are relatively downward sluggish for large shocks.


Abstract The role of tachoclines, the thin shear layers that separate solid body from differential rotation in the interior of late-type stars, in stellar dynamos is still controversial. In this work we discuss their relevance in view of recent results from global dynamo simulations performed with the EULAG-MHD code. The models have solar-like stratification and different rotation rates (i.e., different Rossby number). Three arguments supporting the key role of tachoclines are presented: the solar dynamo cycle period, the origin of torsional oscillations and the scaling law of stellar magnetic fields as function of the Rossby number. This scaling shows a regime where the field strength increases with the rotation and a saturated regime for fast rotating stars. These properties are better reproduced by models that consider the convection zone and a fraction of the radiative core, naturally developing a tachocline, than by those that consider only the convection zone.


Given a short video we create a representation that captures a spectrum of looping videos with varying levels of dynamism, ranging from a static image to a highly animated loop. In such a progressively dynamic video, scene liveliness can be adjusted interactively using a slider control. Applications include background images and slideshows, where the desired level of activity may depend on personal taste or mood. The representation also provides a segmentation of the scene into independently looping regions, enabling interactive local adjustment over dynamism. For a landscape scene, this control might correspond to selective animation and deanimation of grass motion, water ripples, and swaying trees. Converting arbitrary video to looping content is a challenging research problem. Unlike prior work, we explore an optimization in which each pixel automatically determines its own looping period. The resulting nested segmentation of static and dynamic scene regions forms an extremely compact representation.


Topic indexing is the task of identifying the main topics covered by a document. These are useful for many purposes: as subject headings in libraries, as keywords in academic publications and as tags on the web. Knowing a document's topics helps people judge its relevance quickly. However, assigning topics manually is labor intensive. This thesis shows how to generate them automatically in a way that competes with human performance. Three kinds of indexing are investigated: term assignment, a task commonly performed by librarians, who select topics from a controlled vocabulary; tagging, a popular activity of web users, who choose topics freely; and a new method of keyphrase extraction, where topics are equated to Wikipedia article names. A general two-stage algorithm is introduced that first selects candidate topics and then ranks them by significance based on their properties. These properties draw on statistical, semantic, domain-specific and encyclopedic knowledge. They are combined using a machine learning algorithm that models human indexing behavior from examples. This approach is evaluated by comparing automatically generated topics to those assigned by professional indexers, and by amateurs. We claim that the algorithm is "human-competitive" because it chooses topics that are as consistent with those assigned by humans as their topics are with each other. The approach is generalizable, requires little training data and applies across different domains and languages.


The paper proposes a systematic explanation as to how the Japanese automobile parts supplier system generated international competitive advantages in the 1980s and thereafter. Based not only on a survey of existing literature, some of which has never been introduced in English in the past, but also the author's original data and conceptual framework for coherent interpretation of the phenomena, the paper argues that the coexistence of three conditions, as mutually complementary factors, enabled such a competitive advantage: long-term relational transactions, bundled outsourcing, and dynamic capability-building competition among a small number of suppliers. These three patterns of inter-firm relations have been much discussed in existing literature as separate factors, but they have not been regarded as a coherent total system. This paper proposes a hypothesis that the performance advantage of this system should be ascribed at least partly to the complementarity of the triplet of the inter-firm routines. Despite the deterioration of profit performance of some Japanese parts suppliers in the late 1990s due partly to a domestic recession, appreciation of the yen and strategic mistakes, as well as international merger and acquisitions involving some Japanese firms, the above principle of operational routines seems to be basically unchanged. Recent topics such as modularisation and internet procurement should be evaluated from the point of view that the effectiveness of the three routines mentioned above should not be sacrificed in the name of modularisation for the sake of modularisation, or e-business for the sake of e-business.


From experimental measurements of near field of any radiant device (RD) and using genetic algorithms (GA) as optimization tool for finding out the parameters of a model, carry out the search of geometric dipole structure (not necessarily unique), in order to reproduce the measurements above mentioned, with that model the far field is predicted. With any of the configurations (parameterized model) is possible to estimate the radiation in the zone of far field only modifying the distance parameter in the model. In this paper the application of the GA as a search method of a geometric configuration of elementary dipoles that solve the inverse problem of electromagnetic radiation are reported. The inverse problem of electromagnetic radiation appears as a new application in the electromagnetic compatibility area that allows estimating the far field radiation from near field measurements. Key Words : Electromagnetic Radiation; Geometric dipole structure DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jie.v8i1-2.5115 Journal of the Institute of Engineering Vol. 8, No. 1&2, 2010/2011 Page: 231-236 Uploaded Date : 20 July, 2011


Residual feed intake (RFI) is a calculated using DMI as dependent variable and metabolic body weight (BW 0.75 ) and ADG as independent variable. Mitochondria complex I (mitochondrial NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase) is one of the least understood membrane bound protein complexes. Insulin resistance has been reported in calves, dairy cows, horses and swine. For all four mitochondria experiments, there was a significant difference (P < 0.05) between RFI and DMI but no difference (P > 0.05) was reported for ADG and MMBW. For experiments one, two and three, CI was greater (P < 0.05) for –RFI compared to other treatments. The correlation between CI and RFI was -0.37 (P = 0.02), -0.48 (P = 0.034), and -0.84 (P = 0.015) for experiment one, two and three, respectively. For experiment 4, animals with –RFI had a trend for greater concentration (P = 0.07) of Band I (protein S1) than +RFI. Correlation between RFI and Band I was -0.72 (P = 0.04). A regression was developed using Band I and RFI with RFI = 6.1715 -0.00015 Band I, R 2 = 0.85, RMSE = 0.62. No significant difference (P > 0.05) was reported in any variable measured during both the glucose and epinephrine tolerance test. We concluded that mitochondrial function was at least in part responsible for differences among animals in metabolic efficiency. In addition, insulin resistance is not responsible for RFI classification in feedlot animals.


India has an emerging web of cooperation with East Asian countries, especially ASEAN through the ASEAN-India dialogue process, the bilateral free trade agreements with Singapore and Thailand and sub-regional initiatives such as the Mekong-Ganga cooperation and the BIMST-EC. In this discussion paper the ASEAN Secretary-General focuses on the need to develop a partnership between ASEAN and India that has the dual objectives of addressing the challenges of globalisation and working closely to reap the opportunities of the same universal phenomena. There are enough opportunities and challenges to compel ASEAN and India to work closely in maintaining peace and stability, expanding economic linkages and improving the critical human capacities. The paper also presents ten points for Advancing ASEAN-India People-to-People Partnership.


Digoxin Dangers A proportion of patients treated with digoxin, a cardiac glycoside used to treat heart function abnormalities, generate the inactive metabolite, dihydrodigoxin, resulting in poor efficacy. Haiser et al. (p. 295) examined a potential culprit responsible for this transformation—the actinobacterium, Eggerthella lenta—to probe the microbiota-digoxin interaction. Microbe growth was promoted by arginine, and differential expression analysis revealed a two-gene cardiac glycoside reductase (cgr) operon that was induced by digoxin in low arginine conditions. Not all strains of E. lenta could reduce digoxin and, when fecal samples from healthy people were tested, a spectrum of digoxin inactivation was detected. When the digoxin-reducing strain of E. lenta was given to germ-free mice that were fed a high-protein (that is, high-arginine) diet, digoxin levels stayed high in serum, and drug inactivation was suppressed. The heart drug digoxin can be inactivated by a strain of gut microbe bearing a cardiac glycoside reductase operon. Despite numerous examples of the effects of the human gastrointestinal microbiome on drug efficacy and toxicity, there is often an incomplete understanding of the underlying mechanisms. Here, we dissect the inactivation of the cardiac drug digoxin by the gut Actinobacterium Eggerthella lenta. Transcriptional profiling, comparative genomics, and culture-based assays revealed a cytochrome-encoding operon up-regulated by digoxin, inhibited by arginine, absent in nonmetabolizing E. lenta strains, and predictive of digoxin inactivation by the human gut microbiome. Pharmacokinetic studies using gnotobiotic mice revealed that dietary protein reduces the in vivo microbial metabolism of digoxin, with significant changes to drug concentration in the serum and urine. These results emphasize the importance of viewing pharmacology from the perspective of both our human and microbial genomes.


The spatial and temporal structure of predator-prey relationships in the Celtic Sea was investigated for 4 commercially important predator species (cod Gadus morhua, hake Merluccius merluccius, megrim Lepidorhombus whiffiagonis, and whiting Merlangius merlangus) using stomach- content and bottom-trawl survey data for the period 1982 to 1995. Blue whiting Micromesistius poutassou were consumed more often during the summer months, whereas mackerel Scomber scombrus and Trisopterus spp. (poor cod T. minutus, Norway pout T. esmarkii, and bib T. luscus) were found more often in predator stomachs during the winter half-year. On a spatial scale, blue whiting was consumed over the shelf edge, in accordance with their higher densities in the environ- ment, while mackerel, horse mackerel Trachurus trachurus and Trisopterus spp. were eaten more often on the continental shelf, again in agreement with their depth-related density-distribution patterns. The spatial distribution of whiting closely matched that of a key prey, Trisopterus spp. This might indicate an 'aggregative response' by the predator. The results of this study suggest spatial and seasonal prey-switching behaviour by cod, hake and whiting. Overall, the Celtic Sea fish community is characterised by opportunistic predators and general independence between predator and prey distributions. Interspecific predator interactions are reduced by size-, space- and time-dependent feeding behaviours.


Location privacy continues to attract significant attentions in recent years, fueled by the rapid growth of locationbased services (LBSs) and smart mobile devices. Location obfuscation has been the dominating location privacy preserving approach, which transforms the exact location of a mobile user to a perturbed location before its public release. The notion of location privacy has evolved from user-defined location kanonymity to two statistical quantification based privacy notions: geo-indistinguishability and expected inference error. The former promotes differential location privacy but does not protect location against inference attacks of Bayesian adversary with using prior information, whereas the latter promotes the background inference resilient location privacy but does not guarantee differential location privacy with respect to geo-indistinguishability. In this paper we argue that geo-indistinguishability and expected inference error are two complementary notions for location privacy. We formally study the relationship between two privacy notions. By leveraging this relationship and a personalized error bound, we can effectively combine the two privacy notions. We develop PIVE, a two-phase dynamic differential location privacy framework. In Phase I, we take into account the user-defined inference error threshold and the prior knowledge about the user's location to determine a subset of locations as the protection location set for protecting the actual location by increasing adversary's expected location inference error. In Phase II, we generate pseudo-locations (i.e., perturbed locations) in the way that achieves differential privacy over the protection location set. This two-phase location obfuscation is constructed dynamically by leveraging the relationship between two privacy notions based on adversary's current prior information and user-specific privacy requirements on different locations and at different times. Experiments with real-world datasets demonstrate that our PIVE approach effectively guarantees the two privacy notions simultaneously and outperforms the existing mechanisms in terms of adaptive privacy protection in presence of skewed locations and computation efficiency.


We develop a tractable framework for the analysis of the relationship between contractual incompleteness, technological complementarities, and technology adoption. In our model, a firm chooses its technology and investment levels in contractible activities by suppliers of intermediate inputs. Suppliers then choose investments in noncontractible activities, anticipating payoffs from an ex post bargaining game. We show that greater contractual incompleteness leads to the adoption of less advanced technologies, and that the impact of contractual incompleteness is more pronounced when there is greater complementary among the intermediate inputs. We study a number of applications of the main framework and show that the mechanism proposed in the paper can generate sizable productivity differences across countries with different contracting institutions, and that differences in contracting institutions lead to endogenous comparative advantage differences. (JEL D86, O33)


Object-oriented programming is gradually evolving into a popular and standard paradigm for large software application development. Typical examples include computer-aided design and engineering (CAD/CAE), computer-aided software engineering (CASE), and office information systems (OIS). For such applications that are data or knowledge intensive, and require collaborative participation, traditional storage mechanisms, such as a application specific file structures are grossly inadequate, and necessitate a database system for information management. Object-oriented databases provide persistence to design objects, concurrency, consistency and all the other features of a database management system. The object data representation combined with DBMS facilities provides a powerful medium for modeling, coordination, storage and manipulation of engineering information. A large computer-aided-design or engineering (CAD/CAE) project (such as aircraft design) typically involves a group of designers working cooperatively on distributed workstations to complete a complex design by closely interacting among themselves and dynamically sharing design data and information. Such design environments necessitate powerful data modeling, sharing and management tools, network communication protocols and a flexible framework for concurrency management of highly interleaved and interactive transactions. Traditional relational database management systems (RDBMS) are restricted in their ability to model complex data and their intricate relationships and fail to capture design semantics or hierarchical organization of the design process in the database. They are, therefore, poor tools for collaborative engineering work. In this paper, we discuss the various requirements of a object-oriented database management system (OODBMS) for supporting collaborative engineering design. This study forms an integral component of an ongoing effort at MIT called DICE (Distributed and Integrated Computer-aided Engineering Environment) which consists of a set of object-oriented tools aimed at addressing data modeling, transaction management and coordination and communication problems in collaborative engineering.


Open collaboration platforms have fundamentally changed the way knowledge is produced, disseminated and consumed. In these systems, contributions arise organically with little to no central governance. While such decentralization provides many benefits, a lack of broad oversight and coordination can leave questions of information poverty and skewness to the mercy of the system's natural dynamics. Unfortunately, we still lack a basic understanding of the dynamics at play in these systems, and specifically, how contribution and attention interact and propagate through information networks. We leverage a large-scale natural experiment to study how exogenous content contributions to Wikipedia articles affect the attention they attract and how that attention spills over to other articles in the network. Results reveal that exogenously added content leads to significant, substantial and long-term increases in both content consumption and subsequent contributions. Furthermore, we find significant attention spillover to downstream hyperlinked articles. Through both analytical estimation and empirically-informed simulation, we evaluate policies to harness this attention contagion to address the problem of information poverty and skewness. We find that harnessing attention contagion can lead to as much as a twofold increase in the total attention flow to clusters of disadvantaged articles. Our findings have important policy implications for open collaboration platforms and information networks.


OBJECTIVES: To examine reductions in diarrhea-associated health care utilization after rotavirus vaccine implementation and to assess direct and indirect effectiveness of vaccination. METHODS: Retrospective cohort analysis of claims data of commercially insured US children aged <5 years. We examined annual pentavalent (RV5) and monovalent (RV1) rotavirus vaccine coverage. We compared rates of diarrhea-associated health care utilization in prevaccine (2001–2006) versus postvaccine introduction (2007–2011) years, compared rates of diarrhea-associated health care utilization in vaccinated versus unvaccinated children and compared rates in unvaccinated children in postvaccine versus prevaccine years. RESULTS: Among children aged <5 years, RV5 and RV1 rotavirus vaccine coverage rates reached 58% and 5%, respectively, by December 31, 2010. Compared with the average rate of rotavirus-coded hospitalizations in 2001–2006, rates were reduced by 75% in 2007–2008, 60% in 2008–2009, 94% in 2009–2010, and 80% in 2010–2011. Compared with unvaccinated children, in 2010–2011, the rate of rotavirus-coded hospitalizations was reduced by 92% among RV5 recipients and 96% among RV1 recipients. Rotavirus-coded hospitalization rate reductions among RV5 recipients versus unvaccinated children ranged from 87% among <1-year-olds to 81% among 4-year-olds. Compared with prevaccine rates in 2001–2006, rotavirus-coded hospitalization rates among unvaccinated children decreased by 50% in 2007–2008, 77% in 2009–2010, and 25% in 2010–2011. CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of rotavirus vaccines has substantially reduced diarrhea health care utilization in US children. Both rotavirus vaccines conferred high protection against rotavirus hospitalizations; RV5 conferred durable protection through the fourth year of life. Vaccination also conferred indirect benefits to unvaccinated children.


We have developed several 3D graphics applications to support our teaching. Some of these applications create virtual environments. In particular a telescope simulator has been used to introduce students to the controls of a particular telescope that they will then subsequently use at an observatory. Most students have never used a telescope before and find controlling one rather challenging. This results in significant wasted observing time at the observatory. The developed application simulates the sky, the telescope, and the handcontroller. They sky is rendered in a familiar planetarium style. The telescope is a 3-D, fully-animated and textured graphical entity that gives the user the look and feel of the real telescope. The handcontroller works identically to the actual one except within the application it is clicked on with a mouse. This enables the students to gain a familiarity with aligning the telescope before commencing the course. It also allows them to gain a working knowledge of using celestial coordinates and the night sky. This paper describes the simulator and how it has benefitted students.


The sexual addiction concept, which conventionally assumes partnered sex, creates a dilemma when young, unmarried Christian men, such as those seen at Christian college counseling centers, eschew partnered sex because of religious pressures but are silently addicted to solo sex behavior, e.g., masturbation and using pornography. We argue that these men are sexually addicted when they depend on solo sex behaviors to regulate their emotional state. The unique characteristics of this group create challenges in assessing for sexual addiction using the standard quantitative screening instruments, the limitations of which are discussed followed by suggestions for contextualizing assessment and treatment. Christians and the controversy of sexual addiction An increasing number of clinicians and researchers recognize the presence of a syndrome marked by compulsive and addictive sexual behavior that affects a component of the population. Although the precise designation of such a condition is the subject of considerable disagreement and debate (Barth & Kinder, 1987; Goodman, 2001; Kafka, 2001; Shaffer, 1994), many clinicians are in one accord that the condition warrants treatment due to the distress and functional impairment that it causes. Nevertheless, the existence of such a syndrome of driven sexual behavior (which we hereon refer to as "sexual addiction," its most common designation in the literature) is by no means universally accepted among clinicians and researchers. While we acknowledge that there are many socio-cultural and nosological disputes around sexual addiction, these controversies are beyond the scope of this article. For the purpose of our present discussion, we simply state our belief that sexual addiction is a disorder that exists but suffers from a lack of diagnostic clarity. One ramification of the conceptual vagueness surrounding sexual addiction is the mistaken belief among some evangelicals that all sexual behaviors of a driven and unwanted nature represent sexual addictions that require treatment. The somewhat uncritical use of addictions nomenclature to describe problematic hypersexuality is perhaps reflected in an article in Today's Christian Woman (Richards, 2003), which described the female analog of sex addiction as a syndrome of internet-related activities organized around romantic fantasy. One thing is clear whether one agrees or disagrees with this author's assertions: the label "addiction" lends itself to particular beliefs about "addicts" and how they should be helped. These beliefs are rooted in an ideology that has been shaped to a large extent by the disease model of alcoholism and the Twelve Step model of recovery, but increasingly they are used to conceptualize excessive behaviors that are morally problematic. Questioning sex addiction among Christian college men One group of people for whom the term "sexual addiction" is problematic is male students at evangelical Christian colleges who are distressed by masturbation and pornography use.1 The problems of these young men reflect the issues faced by the broader group of unmarried evangelical persons who are unsure about the place of sexuality in their lives, and experience tension and discomfort with their sexual feelings because their value system and religious beliefs preclude engagement in partnered sex. As counselors at the Wheaton College Counseling Center, we (Ferrell and Kwee) dealt significantly with issues of male sexuality, including running therapy groups for men distressed by masturbation and pornography use and wishing to develop a healthy understanding of sexuality. While we believe that some of our clients (a minority) struggle with an actual addiction, we are surprised by the number of clients who are disposed to believe that their developmentally normative struggles with masturbation are of an addictive nature. Approximately 60% of male students who indicated that they were consulting a counselor because of sexual concerns believed or suspected that they struggled with sexual addiction, whether or not they were actually assessed to have an addiction. …


As part of a 9-year study on the contraceptive effects of Porcine Zona Pellucida (PZP) on white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), we analyzed serum chemistry panels during the first 4 years. This included the first 2 years when does were being actively immunized, and 2 years post-immunization. The chemistry panel was designed to detect pathologies that might result from the immunization of the deer. Blood chemistry results did not suggest any pathological changes resulting from the immunization. Seasonal differences in serum cholesterol were similar in both the control and PZP-treated groups. Seasonal changes in the mean body weights of the treated and control groups reflected an increased weight of the control group in the spring, probably due to pregnancy. However, no statistical difference existed in the fall weights between the 2 groups throughout the 4-year study.


In recognition of their outstanding academic and personal achievements, APSA is pleased to announce the APSA Minority Fellows for the 2013–14 academic year. The Minority Fellows Program (MFP) was established in 1969 as an effort to increase the number of minority scholars in the discipline and has designated more than 400 fellows and contributed to the successful completion of doctoral political science programs for over 100 individuals. APSA has refocused and increased its efforts to assist minority students in completing their doctorates by concentrating not only on the recruitment of minorities, but also on the retention of these groups within the profession. The MFP designates up to 12 stipend minority fellows each year. Fellows with stipends receive a $4,000 fellowship that is disbursed in two $2,000 payments—one at the end of their first graduate year and one at the end of their second—provided that they remain in good academic standing. Awards are based on students' undergraduate course work, GPA, extracurricular activities, GRE scores, and recommendations from faculty. Members of the selection committee for this year's fellows included Sonia Garcia, Committee on the Status of Latinos y Latinas in the Profession; B. D'Andra Orey, Committee on the Status of Blacks in the Profession; and Wendy K. Tam Cho, Committee on the Status of Asian Pacific Americans in the Profession. Learn more about the program by visiting http://www.apsanet.org/content_3284.cfm.


Weanling meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) have been suggested as a bioassay of the feeding value of forage. To test the relationship between vole and ruminant intake and performance, six alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) forages were fed to dairy cows and weanling voles. The six forages represented early and late-harvested hay in 3 consecutive years. The dairy cow rations consisted entirely of forage, vole diets contained 70% forage. Intake and production responses for both animal species were higher with feedings of early-cut hay than of late-cut hay. Multiple regression analyses showed that the neutral detergent fiber and protein concentration of the forages were important factors in the observed responses of each animal species. A linear equation was calculated that accounted for 91% of the variation in milk production from vole weight gain. The study supports the theory that weanling vole may provide useful information about the feeding value of forage for the ruminant animal.


The aim of this study was to investigate the removal of toluene from air through Nano-graphene modified by ionic liquid (NG-IL). The batch adsorption experiments in glass bottle of gas chromatography equipped with flame ionization detector (GC-FID) were used. Graphene ultrahigh-quality synthesized by substrate-free gas-phase method in a single step and graphene sheets were deposited with ionic- liquid by thermal adsorption in acetone blank solution. Various conditions including contact time, amount of adsorbent, adsorbate concentration, humidity, and temperature were studied and optimized. NG-IL adsorbent was used for the adsorption of toluene vapor from gaseous media and the effect of different conditions such as; toluene concentration, humidity, and temperature on the adsorption were investigated. The Langmuir adsorption isotherms were employed for toluene by NG-IL adsorbent. The adsorption capacity was decreased by raising the sorbent humidity above 50 percent. The toluene capture capacity for NG-IL was 126 mg/g. The results of SEM, XRD, and TEM showed that, the NG-IL have beneficial surfaces for toluene removal. NG-IL as a novel adsorbent has not previously been used for the adsorption of pollutants.


We studied the foraging distribution and the formation of multi-species feeding associations of seabirds and marine mammals off the British east coast. The local top-predator community comprised c. 34 species of seabirds, two pinnipeds and eight cetaceans. It appeared that multi-species feeding associations (MSFA's) , with rather low species richness and diversity, were commonly formed around fishing vessels, were attracted by or otherwise associated with cetaceans (MSFA's with a generally low but more variable species richness and moderate diversity) and occurred over natural resources, apparently mainly fish shoals (MSFA's with the highest species richness and diversity). Small, short-lived MSFA's were the commoner type, particularly those over natural prey (sandeels and small clupeoids). Black-legged Kittiwakes Rissa tridactyla acted as catalysts in these flocks, Common Guillemots Uria aalge and Razorbills Alca torda as diving producers, apparently driving up fish towards the surface. The specific role of all other species joining in is described in general terms. Typical associations with marine mammals were those in which the cetaceans (mainly White-beaked Dolphins Lagenorhynchus albirostris and Harbour Porpoises Phocoena phocoena) operated as 'beaters' for Northern Gannets Morus bassanus and Black-legged Kittiwakes. The functioning of MSFA's is decribed from two angles. First of all, MSFA's are prominent phenomena on the sea surface, guiding seabirds using visual cues for food finding. Secondly, perhaps more importantly, the differentiation of feeding methods deployed in MSFA's may facilitate seabirds to reach prey that would otherwise be unavailable for them. It is suggested that the frequent associations of Kittiwakes and auks are the most sustainable system, because commensalism is the underlying mechanism rather than competition. The participation of scroungers in these flocks (Herring Gulls Larus argentatus as common nearshore examples) normally ruined the MSFA formation in notime. Usually, a MSFA would usually collapse as soon as the auks gave up their synchronised feeding activities. This underlines the essential role ofAlcidae in these formations. The MSFA's are common and prominent in the North Sea and they deserve further study in the context of when interspecific relationships and the structuring of seabird communities.


With the growing recognition that effective action on climate change will require a combination of emissions reductions and carbon sequestration, protecting, enhancing and restoring natural carbon sinks have become political priorities. Mangrove forests are considered some of the most carbon-dense ecosystems in the world with most of the carbon stored in the soil. In order for mangrove forests to be included in climate mitigation efforts, knowledge of the spatial distribution of mangrove soil carbon stocks are critical. Current global estimates do not capture enough of the finer scale variability that would be required to inform local decisions on siting protection and restoration projects. To close this knowledge gap, we have compiled a large georeferenced database of mangrove soil carbon measurements and developed a novel machine-learning based statistical model of the distribution of carbon density using spatially comprehensive data at a 30 m resolution. This model, which included a prior estimate of soil carbon from the global SoilGrids 250 m model, was able to capture 63% of the vertical and horizontal variability in soil organic carbon density (RMSE of 10.9 kg m−3). Of the local variables, total suspended sediment load and Landsat imagery were the most important variable explaining soil carbon density. Projecting this model across the global mangrove forest distribution for the year 2000 yielded an estimate of 6.4 Pg C for the top meter of soil with an 86–729 Mg C ha−1 range across all pixels. By utilizing remotely-sensed mangrove forest cover change data, loss of soil carbon due to mangrove habitat loss between 2000 and 2015 was 30–122 Tg C with >75% of this loss attributable to Indonesia, Malaysia and Myanmar. The resulting map products from this work are intended to serve nations seeking to include mangrove habitats in payment-for- ecosystem services projects and in designing effective mangrove conservation strategies.


Abstract A series of irradiation experiments were performed using Fusion Neutronics Source (FNS) at JAEA for the investigation of activation of materials relevant to Lithium/vanadium-alloy and Flibe/vanadium-alloy blankets. The specimens of V-4Cr-4Ti, Er and Teflon in 10 mm×10 mm×0.03-0.1 mm were prepared for studying the activation of V-alloy structure, MHD coating of Er2O3, and F in molten salt Flibe, respectively. Be, Li and Li/Be mock-ups were assembled with Be and solid Li blocks in addition to the assembly for direct D-T neutron irradiation to examine the dependence of the activation on neutron spectrum. The neutron spectra in all irradiation locations were calculated using MCNP code and JENDL-3.3 file. The activities of the specimens induced in various neutron fields were measured with a high purity Ge detector (HP-Ge). Experimental analyses were carried out using FISPACT-2001 codes with both EAF-2001 file and FENDL/A-2.0 & FENDL/D-2.0 libraries. The typical calculation/experiment (C/E) values lay in the range of 0.8-1.2. Coarse group treat for (n,σ) reactions, especially in resonance range, could result in overestimation. Use of continuous cross section improves consistency of the calculation with the experiment. However, accurate estimate of spectra is necessary when the flux changes largely with energy around the threshold or the resonance peak.


Haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) is an acute disease caused by Hantavirus and clinically characterised by abrupt onset of fever, various haemorrhagic manifestations and transient renal and hepatic dysfunction. We retrospectively reviewed 63 cases of HFRS in children from 13 different hospitals in Korea who presented over a 15-year period. The age of the patients ranged from 7 to 15 years, with a male to female ratio of 8 to 1. Fifty-four (86%) patients were 10 years or older. On admission, 24 (38%) were in the febrile phase and 35 (56%) were in the oliguric phase. Fever (100%) abdominal pain (91%), headache (76%) and vomiting (73%) were the most common symptoms. Backache, subconjunctival haemorrhage and hypertension were also noted in about one-third of patients. Hypotension was documented in only 7 (11%) patients. Leucocytosis (> 10,000/mm3) and thrombocytopenia (< 150,000/mm3) were noted in more than two-thirds of patients. Elevated blood urea nitrogen and serum creatinine was observed in 94% by the 7th (median) day of illness. Elevated aspartate aminotransferase and/or alanine aminotransferase were found in more than two-thirds of patients. Renal biopsy was performed in 12 patients and revealed various stages of acute tubular necrosis with occasional interstitial cell infiltration and oedema. Only 2 showed evidence of interstitial haemorrhage. Eleven patients required 1-3 days of dialysis and the remaining patients required only conservative management. Three (5%) patients died of shock, respiratory failure and pulmonary haemorrhage. All other patients recovered without sequelae. Although childhood cases were much less common than adults, clinical and laboratory findings were in general similar between children and adults.


This paper studies how political fragmentation affects government stability. Exploiting variation in the number of parties induced by a 5% vote share entry threshold in Spanish local councils, we show that the entry of an additional party in Parliament increases the probability of unseating the incumbent by 4 percentage points. We also document that mayors with more resources at their disposal for legislative bargaining are half as likely to be unseated. Challengers are younger, better educated, and more likely to win the following elections, suggesting that instability may induce positive selection on politicians. We interpret our results in light of a two-period bargaining model of coalition formation featuring government instability.


The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) is one of the largest efforts of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to promote healthy dietary behavior practices among the low income adults and youths in the US. Although the program is shown to be effective in achieving its stated goals, the cost effectiveness of the money spent on EFNEP remains largely unknown. This dissertation analyzes the costs and effectiveness of the EFNEP, and is organized in three essays. The first essay investigates the effectiveness of the adult EFNEP and evaluates the returns to scale on the money spent in this program by utilizing an indirect production function approach. Results indicate that the program has increasing returns to scale at the National level, although a significant variation exists across the states. The second essay develops a framework for conducting the cost effectiveness analysis (CEA) for the youth EFNEP. The CEA framework is then applied to the data from Virginia youth EFNEP to estimate the cost effectiveness ratio (CER). The CER is estimated to be about $75 per behavior improvement. The third essay examines the outcomes and the attributes of the youth EFNEP program using the Rasch model type measurement model. Findings suggest that the youth EFNEP is effective in achieving its stated program goals. In addition, the program related characteristics are found to be important attributes of effective programs. Overall, this dissertation has important policy implications for improving the (cost) effectiveness of nutrition education programs.


We investigated the seasonal (winter vs summer and within season) and spatial (between-pool) variability of benthic assemblages of rock pools at mid-intertidal level along the shore of Viana do Castelo (North Portugal). Physical traits of rock pools, including size, depth and position along the shore, were also compared between pools. While pools did not differ for any of the examined physical traits, results indicated a clear seasonal difference in the structure of assemblages, including a total of 49 macroalgal and 13 animal taxa. This finding was driven by six taxa that are more abundant in winter (the reef-forming polychaete Sabellaria alveolata , the articulated coralline algae Corallina spp., the brown alga Bifurcaria bifurcata , the encrusting coralline alga Lithophyllum incrustans , the red alga Chondracanthus acicularis and the grazing snails Gibbula spp.) and four algal taxa that are more abundant in summer (the invasive brown Sargassum muticum , the green Ulva spp., the kelp Laminaria ochroleuca and the filamentous red Ceramium spp.). These data provide a new contribution to the knowledge of rock pool systems and have potential implications for monitoring programmes aimed at assessing ecological modifications related to natural and anthropogenic disturbances and for identifying processes responsible for the variability of rock pool assemblages.


Exchange rate policies depend on portfolio choices, and portfolio choices depend on anticipated exchange rate policies. This opens the door to multiple equilibria in policy regimes. We construct a model in which agents optimally choose to denominate their assets and liabilities either in domestic or in foreign currency. The monetary authority optimally chooses to float or to fix the currency, after portfolios have been chosen. We identify conditions under which both fixing and floating are equilibrium policies: if agents expect fixing and arrange their portfolios accordingly, the monetary authority validates that expectation; the same happens if agents initially expect floating. We also show that a flexible exchange rate Pareto-dominates a fixed one. It follows that social welfare would rise if the monetary authority could precommit to floating.


Tokamak disruptions are events of fatal collapse of the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) confinement configuration, which cause a rapid loss of the plasma thermal energy and the impulsive release of magnetic energy and heat on the tokamak first wall components. The physics of the disruptions is very complex and non-linear, strictly associated with the dynamics of magnetic tearing perturbations. The crucial problem of the response to the effects of localized heat deposition and current driven by external (rf) sources to avoid or quench the MHD tearing instabilities has been investigated both experimentally and theoretically on the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak. The analysis of the conditions under which a disruption can be prevented by injection of electron cyclotron (EC) rf power, or, alternatively, may be caused by it, shows that the local EC heating can be more significant than EC current drive in ensuring neoclassical tearing modes (NTMs) stability, due to two main reasons: first, the drop of temperature associated with the island thermal short circuit tends to reduce the neoclassical character of the instability and to limit the EC current drive generation; second, the different effects on the mode evolution of both the location of the power deposition relative to the island separatrix and the island shape deformation lead to less strict requirements of precise power deposition focussing. A contribution to the validation of theoretical models of the events associated with NTM is given and can be used to develop concepts for their control, relevant also for ITER-like scenarios. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4752423]


This article investigates the social structures reflected in the annual jury sessions of the Prix Ars Electronica, a major media art competition—the composition, the temporal evolution and ultimately the decisions of these juries. The author focuses on three different structures: the network of co-jurors across different categories and years, the co-artist network formed by the jury decisions, and finally the interaction between these two networks. The results not only reveal different roles of individuals in the jury process but also reflect the evolution of the field in general. Based solely on public data, the results show a multifaceted picture of a dynamic field. article Frontispiece. (top) topology of the complete jury network covering the period 1987–2009. (bottom) Detail view. (© Dietmar Offenhuber)


The UK construction industry employs over 2.9 million workers and issues of mental health has become top priority across the industry and beyond. It is estimated that 44% of employers are experiencing increase in reported cases of mental ill health. This is estimated to cost the UK economy around £26 billion a year and as much as 400,000 workdays lost annually. The construction industry recognizes the significance of occupational health and safety in protecting the physical health of workers. However, mental illness which is unseen and affects significant numbers of workers is rarely discussed within the industry. Around 89% of the construction workforce is male and national statistics show that approximately 75% of suicides are men under the age of 45. These include low-skilled workers like labourers; skilled trades like plasterers, painters and decorators and construction managers. Women however, who suffer from mental ill health are twice as likely to seek help. This study adopts an ethnographic approach by evaluating construction workers that have attended the 7-day Instructor training. This training include a 2-days Mental Health First Aid training and 5-days of instructor training to appraise the suitability of MHFA training for the construction industry; and if the training improves the physical, mental and social health of workers. All of these were weighed against the deliverables that MHFA England set out to achieve with the use of their training. Within the industry, workers that are physically and mentally able are more willing to contribute to their workplace and most likely to be meaningfully engaged. It is therefore imperative to create a supportive environment that manages the risks to worker's mental health by raising awareness, reducing stigma and discrimination and upskilling workers at all levels towards understanding mental ill health and how to recognize and manage such issues.


Hailed as "irrepressibly spirited and entertaining" (Pico Iyer, Time) and "a fascinating cultural survey" (Paul Devlin, Daily Beast), this provocative first biography of Charlie Chan presents American history in a way that it has never been told before. Yunte Huang ingeniously traces Charlie Chan from his real beginnings as a bullwhip-wielding detective in territorial Hawaii to his reinvention as a literary sleuth and Hollywood film icon. Huang finally resurrects the "honorable detective" from the graveyard of detested postmodern symbols and reclaims him as the embodiment of America's rich cultural diversity. The result is one of the most critically acclaimed books of the year and a "deeply personal ...voyage into racial stereotyping and the humanizing force of story telling" (Donna Seaman, Los Angeles Times).


Democratic leaders around the world are finding it increasingly difficult to exercise strong leadership and maintain public support. However, there is nowhere that this has proven to be as challenging of a task as Japan, which has seen its top leaders change more often over the past 25 years than any other major country in the world. The current prime minister has strived to put an end to this pattern, but can he buck this historical trend? More fundamentally, why do Japan's prime ministers find it so difficult to project strong leadership, or even stay in office? And what are the ramifications for Japan's partners and for the world? This volume, authored by contributors who straddle the scholarly and policymaking worlds in Japan, explores the obstacles facing Japan as it looks for greater leadership and explains why this matters for the rest of the world.


We have evaluated the performance of Cauchy Reed-Solomon (CRS) encoding of data blocks with sizes 32 kB to 256 MB. The performance measurements are done on an Intel processor with 4 cores and integrated graphics support. We also used an AMD graphics card in our performance evaluations. Three versions of the CRS algorithm are developed: one sequential version and two OpenCL versions. The OpenCL versions have been targeted to the CPU, the integrated GPU and the AMD graphics card. The measurements show that the graphics card performs better than CPU for large buffers. However, the highest throughput is obtained for one of the CPU versions and moderate buffer sizes (around 1 MB).


This study examined the effect of instrwction on upper elementary music students' degree of liking for opera. Twelve intact music classes were randorr~ly assigned to control and experimental groups. All students were administered a pretest, utilizing a five-point Likert-type scale, to determine initial degree of liking for each musical excerpt. Following the pretest, experimental subjects (n=134) received twelve periods of opera instruction. Cor~trol subjects (n=130) received regular music instruction. Following the treatment period, all subjects were administered a posttest. Statistical 1-tests were utilized to investigate significant gain differences (g= .05) between experimental and control groups. Overall, results indicate a significant increase in degree of liking for the Italian and English operas. Analysis by student gender shows no significant gain differences between male and femaie students. Analysis by grade levels shows no significant gain differences for fourth-grade students, significant gain differences for the Italian opera with fifth-grade students, and significant gain differences for the English opera with sixth-grade students. Additional research possibilities and educational implications have been included.


Objectives: The present study report the phytochemical analysis of chloroform, ethyl acetate, methanolic extracts of leaf, stem bark and root of Acalypha indica (L.) and Cocculus hirsutus (L.) plants.
Methods: Plants material used were collected from Kadaparajupalle at Dornala Mandal, Prakasam district, Andhra Pradesh, India. The authentication of the plant species was done by the taxonomist. The plant part extraction was done by using soxhlet apparatus. The preliminary phytochemical screening of this extracts was conducted by following the standard methods for the presence of the alkaloids, saponins, terpenoids & steroids, flavonoids, tannins, phenolic compounds, coumarins, quinones, resins, and glycosides.
Results: Results indicated the presence of alkaloids, saponins, terpenoids & steroids, tannins, anthocyanidins, phenolic compounds, coumarins, quinones, resins and glycosides in all the plant extracts and could be used for the treatment of wounds and burns.
Conclusion: The presence of high alkaloids, flavonoids and terpenoids of the plant extracts suggest their antioxidant potential and justifies their therapeutic action which could be used for the drug formulation.


Binary aggregation studies problems in which individuals express yes/no choices over a number of possibly correlated issues, and these individual choices need to be aggregated into a collective choice. We show how several classical frameworks of Social Choice Theory, particularly preference and judgment aggregation, can be viewed as binary aggregation problems by designing an appropriate set of integrity constraints for each specific setting. We explore the generality of this framework, showing that it makes available useful techniques both to prove theoretical results, such as a new impossibility theorem in preference aggregation, and to analyse practical problems, such as the characterisation of safe agendas in judgment aggregation in a syntactic way. The framework also allows us to formulate a general definition of paradox that is independent of the domain under consideration, which gives rise to the study of the class of aggregation procedures of generalised dictatorships


SOMMAIRE: 1. Une premisse historique sur la Chine en tant que societe multi-religieuse - 2. Les dispositions constitutionnelles relatives a la liberte de croyance avant 1982 - 3. La liberte religieuse dans l'actuelle Constitution de 1982 et la legislation suivant en la matiere - 4. Liberte religieuse et protection des droits de l'homme dans la Chine actuelle. The free exercise of Religion in People's Republic of China ABSTRACT: After some historical reflections on the spread of multiple religious doctrines on the Chinese territory between the end of the XIX and the beginning of the XX century, the Author considers the attitude of the central government with respect to the right of religious freedom from the time of the Cultural Revolution to today, paying particular attention to the constitutional and criminal law provisions attached to this issue. It seems clear how the Chinese legal tradition is not based on a balance of interest theory as known in the Western legal systems, given the prevalence of the higher communist principles rooted in time. Last pages are reserved for the systematic violations of human rights reported by numerous international observatories, as well as the ancient grudge between China and the Holy See caused by the question of the appointment and formal recognition of new bishops. The provisional agreement signed on 22 September 2018, while marking a step towards finding a solution to this tensions, doesn't offer a definitive solution to the problem.


The audio layers of the MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 standards are in frequent use on the internet, but there is no uniform Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension (MIME) type for these files. The intention of this document is to define the media type audio/mpeg to refer to this kind of contents.


Deep learning systems have become ubiquitous in many aspects of our lives. Unfortunately, it has been shown that such systems are vulnerable to adversarial attacks, making them prone to potential unlawful uses. Designing deep neural networks that are robust to adversarial attacks is a fundamental step in making such systems safer and deployable in a broader variety of applications (e.g. autonomous driving), but more importantly is a necessary step to design novel and more advanced architectures built on new computational paradigms rather than marginally building on the existing ones. In this paper we introduce PeerNets, a novel family of convolutional networks alternating classical Euclidean convolutions with graph convolutions to harness information from a graph of peer samples. This results in a form of non-local forward propagation in the model, where latent features are conditioned on the global structure induced by the graph, that is up to 3 times more robust to a variety of white- and black-box adversarial attacks compared to conventional architectures with almost no drop in accuracy.


In spatial audio analysis-synthesis, one of the key issues is to decompose a signal into cue and ambient components based on their spatial features. Principal component analysis (PCA) has been widely employed in cue extraction. However, the performance of PCA based cue extraction is highly dependent on the assumptions of the input signal model. One of these assumptions is the input signal contains highly correlated cue at zero lag. However, this assumption is often unmet. To overcome this problem, time shifted PCA is proposed in this paper, which involves time-shifting the input signal according to the estimated inter-channel time difference (ITD) of the input signal before cue extraction. From our simulation and listening tests results, the proposed method is found to be superior to the conventional PCA based cue extraction method.


Through a highly sensitive exploration of key concepts and metaphors, Bernard Faure guides Western readers in appreciating some of the more elusive aspects of the Chinese tradition of Chan Buddhism and its outgrowth, Japanese Zen. He focuses on Chan's insistence on "immediacy"--its denial of all traditional mediations, including scripture, ritual, good works--and yet shows how these mediations have always been present in Chan. Given this apparent duplicity in its discourse, Faure reveals how Chan structures its practice and doctrine on such mental paradigms as mediacy/immediacy, sudden/gradual, and center/margins.