Abstract: Whose legacies of resistance are remembered? Whose are not? What meaning can we extract from feminist standpoints uncovered? Dominant societal structures record women's lives in institutional memory where traditional scientific empiricism validates this as truth. Corrective in measure, this paper uses feminist standpoint to see and analyze five stories detailing segments of women's higher education life challenges. Subjectpositions within these stories counter distorted realities. A European woman raises a family then penetrates the ivied walls of the academy. An Argentinean national discovers her autonomy through furthering her ex-husband's career. A mid-westerner moves through the upper echelons of male-dominated academia with little social capital paving her way. These descriptions highlight women's educational gains, yet the legacies within these stories remain largely invisible to others. Memory serves as an important device of public record. Women's lives recalled in public memory, when documented via traditional scientific empiricism, chronicle stories lacking depth and nuance. These flattened misrepresentations produce what becomes faulty andocentric-based knowledge that goes on to occupy a dominant space of institutional knowledge. Largely reflective of national memory, this dominance tells a societal version of truth narrowly informed through male-centered scientific method. Personal standpoint corrects misrepresentations by giving voice to women's standpoints. Subject-positions within the standpoints here counter distorted realities produced through male-centered scientific method, thus exposing the often glossed over challenges to women's educational path frequently lost in data-driven study. Moving voices of female subversion into public view distinguishes ways in which women's personal acts become operational but overlooked variables essential to advancing educational equity outcomes. Informed through feminist standpoint theory (Collins, 2004; Harding, 2004a, 2004b, 2004c, 1986; Hartsock, 2004; Hekman, 2004; hooks, 2004, 1984; Smith, 2004; Weeks, 2004; Wylie, 2004) this paper maps excerpts from five women's higher education stories. Beginning with a discussion of narrative analysis, readers can understand objective dimensions of subjective practices and consider ways positioned standpoint validates and advances feminist thought. Feminist Standpoint Theory (FST) Feminist Standpoint Theory (FST) provides a theoretical response to overcoming instances of marginalized, ignored voice within the context of a culturally accepted dominant, authoritative voice. FST also seeks to establish a feminist research model that operates free from patriarchal bias. Much of conventional science produces knowledge understood through male-oriented language and worldviews that isolate women from their own realities (Smith, 2004). Tagged as "bad science," these Western, affluent, masculine doctrines frequently constrain rather than emancipate women's knowledge (Harding, 1986; Minnich, 2005). Counter in measure, FST does not add women into research; rather, it initiates discovery in women's perspective, accessing standpoints which then reformulate our social order understandings (Harding, 2004a; Letherby, 2003). Woman as the research fulcrum challenges the presumption that conventional scientific empiricism is a homogeneous fit-all-method (Harding, 2004a, 1986). The contention that women fall outside this dominant research overlay makes the relationship between FST and knowledge production and practices of power fundamental to its origins, purpose, and use. Feminist scholars advocate FST as means to see and authenticate women's lived experiences by exposing the colonized spaces of tension and resistance in which they evolve (Collins, 2004, 2000; Harding, 2004a, 2004b, 2004c, 1986; hooks, 2004; Hartsock, 2004; Jaggar, 2004; Minnich, 2005; Smith, 2004; Weeks, 2004; Wylie, 2004). Strategic in purpose, FST teeters between a science-topolitics dynamic, functioning as a scientific tool to uncover situated knowledge otherwise obscured by patriarchal dominance, and as a political leverage to free women's voices otherwise read discursively though male controlled knowledge systems (Jaggar, 2004, 1983). …


Detection and treatment of prostate cancer can theoretically identify and cure a potentially disabling and deadly disease. However, controversy exists primarily because of the absence of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) documenting that these strategies improve survival and quality of life. In the absence of definitive information from RCTs, patients seek information and recommendations from many sources. Physicians have an opportunity to help patients and their families sort through the vast array of conflicting and confusing information. Rather then recommending for or against routine prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing, physicians should provide men who are interested in prostate cancer testing, 50 years of age and older, and have a life expectancy of at least 10 to 15 years, with balanced information about the potential benefits and established harms of screening, diagnosis, and treatment. Validated informational materials can effectively and efficiently promote shared decision making. For early prostate cancer detection, the minimum information should include: the likelihood that prostate cancer will be diagnosed, possibilities of false-positive and false-negative results, anxiety associated with a positive test, and uncertainty regarding whether screening reduces the risk for death from prostate cancer. For men with localized prostate cancer, acceptable treatment options include radical prostatectomy, radiation therapy, cryotherapy, early androgen-suppression therapy, and watchful waiting. These are all considered acceptable options because data do not provide clear-cut evidence for the superiority of any 1 treatment. The only RCT comparing surgery to watchful waiting, though of relatively small size and conducted before PSA testing, showed no difference in survival after 23 years of follow-up. Watchful waiting does not remove prostate cancer, may miss an opportunity to cure or delay disease progression, and may lead to increased patient anxiety. However, watchful waiting avoids the harmful side effects of early intervention and does provide palliative therapy if and when symptomatic disease progression occurs. Furthermore, intervention is not necessary in the vast majority of men because most prostate cancers do not cause mortality or serious morbidity. Therefore, quality of life in many men treated with watchful waiting is superior to those treated with early intervention. For the minority of men with prostate cancer likely to cause disability or death, early intervention options may not be effective. Although commonly used in other countries, watchful waiting is rarely recommended in the United States. The opportunity exists to resolve the confusion, close the gaps in knowledge, and enhance prostate cancer care by conducting RCTs. Until these RCTs are completed, physicians can assist patients by providing a balanced presentation of the known risks and potential but unproven benefits of detection and treatment options and incorporating patient preferences into health care decisions.


Three new species of the genus Balliella Itono & Tanaka are described from eastern Australia. Balliella amphiglanda from Lord Howe I. and Port Hacking, N.S.W., is distinctive in producing either abaxial or adaxial gland cells from the basal cells of lateral branches and in having tetrasporangia restricted to short branches. Balliella repens, from Tryon I., Heron I and Wistari Reef Qld., and Lord Howe I., N.S.W., is distinguished from the other species of the genus by its regularly developed prostrate systems and clustered tetrasporangia. Balliella grandis, from Wistari Reef, North West I. and One Tree I., Qld., is the largest recorded species of Balliella. It has correspondingly large gland cells and abaxial as well as adaxial tetrasporangia. Our work supports the placement of Balliella in the tribe Antithamnieae, a move which necessitates emending Wollaston's definition of the tribe to include species with procarps that form at successive levels along main axes rather than at only one or two points behind the apices.


The York Mystery Plays are a cycle of originally performed on wagons in the city. They date from the fourteenth century and Biblical narrative from Creation to Last Judgment. After nearly four hundred years without a performance, a revival of the York Mysteries began in 1951 when local amateurs led by professional theatre practitioners staged them during the festival of Britain. Playing a Part in History examines the ways in which the revival of these plays transformed them for twentieth- and twenty-first-century audiences. Considering such topics as the contemporary popularity of the plays, the agendas of the revivalists, and major production differences, Margaret Rogerson provides a fascinating comparison of medieval and modern English drama. Drawing extensively on archival material, and newspaper and academic reviews of the plays in recent years, Playing a Part in History is not only an illuminating account of early English drama, but also of the ways in which theatre allows people to interact with the past.


The current study utilizes Swidler's (1986) cultural toolkit theory to explain racial/ethnic differences in American religious congregations' provision of social service programs. This study suggests that black Americans' reliance upon structural tools to assess poverty contributes to their congregations being more heavily involved than majority white congregations in the provision of social services that attempt to make a longer-term impact on community life (i.e. academic tutoring and job training). In contrast, white Americans' greater reliance upon individualistic tools to understand poverty arguably contributes to their congregations being more heavily involved in the provision of programs that have a shorter-term impact on community life (i.e. food, thrift, and shelter). While majority Latino congregations are less likely than are black congregations to provide longer-term impacting programs only, majority Asian congregations tend to be less heavily involved in the provision of both longer and shorter term impacting programs.


Children with Down syndrome have a variety of symptoms including speech and swallowing disorders. To improve these symptoms, tongue training is thought to be beneficial. However, inducing children with Down syndrome to do such training is not easy because tongue training can be an unpleasant experience for children. In addition, with no supporting technology for such training, teachers and families around such children must make efforts to induce them to undergo the training. In this research, we develop an interactive tongue training system especially for children with Down syndrome using SITA (Simple Interface for Tongue motion Acquisition) system. In this paper, we describe in detail our preliminary evaluations of SITA, and present the results of user tests.


Auction participants often cannot easily articulate their requirements and preferences. The buyer in a procurement auction, for instance, may hesitate to quantify the value of non-price solution attributes, and she may have difficulty delineating between hard and soft constraints. Consequently it can be difficult to formulate the winner determination problem (WDP) as a straightforward optimization problem. Existing decisionsupport aids for such situations, including scenario navigation and preference elicitation, address this difficulty through extensions to an optimization framework. This paper presents a complementary approach that frames the procurement decision problem as one of exploration rather than optimization. The foundation of our approach is an algorithm that generates k best solutions to auction WDPs. Our algorithm can scale to practical problem sizes for an interesting class of procurement auctions, and furthermore can incorporate hard constraints into the generation process. We describe ways of extracting useful guidance for the decisionmaker from k-cheapest WDP solutions. We evaluate our method using real bids submitted by real suppliers in an HP material parts procurement auction.


Work integrated learning (WIL) is essential to successful higher education curricula and qualifications. Traditional WIL models are discipline specific with collaboration between educator and business aimed at providing the student with workplace experience. There is a need for a transdisciplinary approach to WIL as well as a need to consider multiple stakeholder responsibility in WIL models. This conceptual paper provides a critical review of two discipline specific WIL models in order to reshape them into a third transdisciplinary multi-stakeholder WIL model highlighting the roles of student, education, business and government. Two working WIL models currently in use in two different disciplines, namely the Human Resources and Marketing Departments, were reviewed for similarities and gaps. The review resulted in the proposed Multi-Stakeholder WIL Model. The message of this paper is that for WIL models to be effective and economically viable, government and the students must become key stakeholders.


Problem statement: Bacteria can perform a variety of beneficial functions, for example many lactic acid bacteria are responsible for fermentation of silage in the process of forage conservation. In the making of silage, epiphytic lactic acid bacteria are usually insufficient in numbers to promote efficient lactate fermentation. This study was conducted to identify the predominant indigenous bacteria, with emphasis on lactic acid bacteria, from Guinea grass (Panicum maximum). Approach: Two different condition of growth using nutrient and MRS agar were prepared for isolation of the bacteria. In total, 18 purified isolates were identified by BIOLOG identification system which comprised of 9 bacterial species. Standard plate count in the both conditions was considered. Results: Three bacterial species based on the first condition of growth were identified which were belonging to Flavimonas oryzihabitans, Enerobacter cloacae, Sphingomonas paucimobilis B. Lactic acid bacteria based on the second condition of growth were belonging to Weissella confusa, Weissella paramesenteroides, Leuconostoc mesenteroides ssp. dextranicum, Lactococcus lactis ssp. hordniae. Result of plate count showed that 8.3×103 CFU lactic acid bacteria are available per gram of fresh guinea grass. Conclusion: Three hetero-fermentative and one homo-fermentative lactic acid bacteria were identified which would be suggested to use as bacterial inoculants because of the insufficient amount of epiphytic lactic acid bacteria and the availability of pathogenic bacteria in the grass.


Amorphous titanium dioxide (TiO2) thin film has been prepared by a filtered cathodic vacuum arc technique at room temperature. It was concluded from the core level of Ti 2p 3/2 (458.3 eV) and O 1s (529.9 eV) and their deviation in binding energy (deltaBE = 71.6 eV) that only one of Ti oxidation states, Ti4+, existed in the film and the film was of ideal stoichiometry. The film possessed high transmittance, which can reach as high as that of a quartz substrate, especially in the visible range, owing to its optical bandgap of 3.2 eV. The high refractive index (2.56 at 550 nm) and low extinction coefficient (approximately 10(-4) at 550 nm) suggested that the film had a high packing density and a low scattering-center concentration. These good optical properties implied the film prepared by this technique was a promising candidate for optical application. Besides, the film was found to transform in the structure from amorphous to anatase crystalline when it was annealed at 300 degrees C, as evidenced by Raman and x-ray diffraction.


Invariance under symmetry is an important problem in machine learning. Our paper looks specifically at equivariant neural networks where transformations of inputs yield homomorphic transformations of outputs. Here, steerable CNNs have emerged as the standard solution. An inherent problem of steerable representations is that general nonlinear layers break equivariance, thus restricting architectural choices. Our paper applies harmonic distortion analysis to illuminate the effect of nonlinearities on Fourier representations of SO(2). We develop a novel FFT-based algorithm for computing representations of non-linearly transformed activations while maintaining band-limitation. It yields exact equivariance for polynomial (approximations of) nonlinearities, as well as approximate solutions with tunable accuracy for general functions. We apply the approach to build a fully E(3)-equivariant network for sampled 3D surface data. In experiments with 2D and 3D data, we obtain results that compare favorably to the state-of-the-art in terms of accuracy while permitting continuous symmetry and exact equivariance.


No-reference image quality assessment (NR-IQA) aims to quantify how humans perceive visual distortions of digital images without access to their undistorted references. NR-IQA models are extensively studied in computational vision, and are widely used for performance evaluation and perceptual optimization of man-made vision systems. Here we make one of the first attempts to examine the perceptual robustness of NR-IQA models. Under a Lagrangian formulation, we identify insightful connections of the proposed perceptual attack to previous beautiful ideas in computer vision and machine learning. We test one knowledge-driven and three data-driven NR-IQA methods under four full-reference IQA models (as approximations to human perception of just-noticeable differences). Through carefully designed psychophysical experiments, we find that all four NR-IQA models are vulnerable to the proposed perceptual attack. More interestingly, we observe that the generated counterexamples are not transferable, manifesting themselves as distinct design flows of respective NR-IQA methods.


OBJECTIVES: Considering the recent reports about a possible relationship between early exposure to bovine milk and type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM1), this study aimed to evaluate the initial age of feeding with bovine milk in DM1 subjects, through a case-control study; as well as to correlate the age at introduction of bovine milk on children's diet with the development and the age of onset of DM1. METHODS: The study was based in interviews directed to mothers of the following groups: a) insulin dependent diabetics patients (DM1G), with diagnosis done up to the mean age of 30 years, with an average age at the diagnosis of 9.2±5.4 years; b) Control group: non diabetic students (CG). The sample comprised 124 subjects (47 DM1G and 77 CG), without statistical difference related to sex and chronological age between both groups. RESULTS: The exclusive breast feeding rate time was significantly less for the female sex. There was no significant differences between the groups rate in relation to the male sex. Also, there was no relationship between the age of exposure to bovine milk and the age at the onset of DM1. CONCLUSIONS: DM1 female subjects were exposed earlier to bovine milk than control subjects, suggesting a possible role of the diet in the etiopathogeny of the disease. Precocious withdrawal from breast feeding, and the associated protection factors offered by it, can be considered elements potentially related to triggering of the autoimmune process.


Filled with classic recipes and inspirational stories, A Thousand Years Over a Hot Stove will make you think twice about the food on your plate. Here is the first book to recount how American women have gathered, cooked, and prepared food for lovers, strangers, and family throughout the ages. We find native women who pried nourishment from the wilderness, mothers who sold biscuits to buy their children's freedom, immigrant wives who cooked old foods in new homes to provide comfort. From church bake sales to microwaving moms, this book is a celebration of women's lives, homes, and communities. Over fifty recipes, from Federal Pancakes to Sweet Potato Pie, are beautifully presented along with over one hundred images from artists, photographers, and rare sources. A Thousand Years Over a Hot Stove is the shared history of all American women and the perfect gift for anyone who ever put food on the table.


With the largest municipal debt in US history and a major hurricane that destroyed much of the archipelago's infrastructure, Puerto Rico has emerged as a key site for the exploration of neoliberalism and disaster capitalism. In Colonial Debts Rocío Zambrana develops the concept of neoliberal coloniality in light of Puerto Rico's debt crisis. Drawing on decolonial thought and praxis, Zambrana shows how debt functions as an apparatus of predation that transforms how neoliberalism operates. Debt functions as a form of coloniality, intensifying race, gender, and class hierarchies in ways that strengthen the colonial relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States. Zambrana also examines the transformation of protest in Puerto Rico. From La Colectiva Feminista en Construcción's actions, long-standing land rescue/occupation in the territory, to the July 2019 protests that ousted former governor Ricardo "Ricky" Rosselló, protests pursue variations of decolonial praxis that subvert the positions of power that debt installs. As Zambrana demonstrates, debt reinstalls the colonial condition and adapts the racial/gender order essential to it, thereby emerging as a key site for political-economic subversion and social rearticulation.


Online education creates new demands on organization and structure in order to make use of its advantages with the technology for learning. Research in this area elucidates new possibilities with the computer as a medium, to individualize and make the learning more flexible. Meanwhile , the empirical study shows practical limitations, which affects the design of web-based teaching. As a result, we have started to develop a guideline, which describes these new possibilities and common problems with the new learning environment. We have structured the guideline by first defining the problem area and then giving recommendation or in some cases proposal of improving the technique. The purpose with the guideline is to illustrate and support teachers with knowledge and inspiration to make the design of this new form of education suitable in its practice.


We propose a method to define and investigate finite size systems in general relativity in terms of their matter plus gravitational energy content. We achieve this by adopting a generic formulation, that involves the embedding of an arbitrary dimensional timelike worldsheet into an arbitrary dimensional spacetime, to a 2+2 picture. In our case, the closed 2-dimensional spacelike surface S, that is orthogonal to the 2-dimensional timelike worldsheet T at every point, encloses the system in question. The corresponding Raychaudhuri equation of T is interpreted as a thermodynamic relation for spherically symmetric systems in quasilocal thermodynamic equilibrium and leads to a work-energy relation for more generic systems that are in nonequilibrium. In the case of equilibrium, our quasilocal thermodynamic potentials are directly related to standard quasilocal energy definitions given in the literature. Quasilocal thermodynamic equilibrium is obtained by minimizing the Helmholtz free energy written via the mean extrinsic curvature of S. Moreover, without any direct reference to surface gravity, we find that the system comes into quasilocal thermodynamic equilibrium when S is located at a generalized apparent horizon. We present a first law and the corresponding worldsheet–constant temperature. Examples of the Schwarzschild, Friedmann–Lemaître and Lemaître–Tolman geometries are investigated and compared. Conditions for the quasilocal thermodynamic and hydrodynamic equilibrium states to coincide are also discussed, and a quasilocal virial relation is suggested as a potential application of this approach. For the case of nonequilibrium, we first apply a transformation of the formalism of our previous notation so that one may keep track of the quasilocal observables and the null cone observables in tandem. We identify three null tetrad gauge conditions that result from the integrability conditions of T and S. This guarantees that our quasilocal system is well defined. In the Raychaudhuri equation of T, we identify the quasilocal charge densities corresponding to the rotational and nonrotational degrees of free-


This paper proposes a semi-random backoff (SRB) method that enables resource reservation in contention-based wireless LANs. The proposed SRB is fundamentally different from traditional random backoff methods because it provides an easy migration path from random backoffs to deterministic slot assignments. The central idea of the SRB is for the wireless station to set its backoff counter to a deterministic value upon a successful packet transmission. This deterministic value will allow the station to reuse the time-slot in consecutive backoff cycles. When multiple stations with successful packet transmissions reuse their respective time-slots, the collision probability is reduced, and the channel achieves the equivalence of resource reservation. In case of a failed packet transmission, a station will revert to the standard random backoff method and probe for a new available time-slot. The proposed SRB method can be readily applied to both 802.11 DCF and 802.11e EDCA networks with minimum modification to the existing DCF/EDCA implementations. Theoretical analysis and simulation results validate the superior performance of the SRB for small-scale and heavily loaded wireless LANs. When combined with an adaptive mechanism and a persistent backoff process, SRB can also be effective for large-scale and lightly loaded wireless networks.


The purpose of this paper is to present a ray-tracing isosurface rendering algorithm for spectral/hp (high-order finite) element methods in which the visualization error is both quantified and minimized. Determination of the ray-isosurface intersection is accomplished by classic polynomial root-finding applied to a polynomial approximation obtained by projecting the finite element solution over element-partitioned segments along the ray. Combining the smoothness properties of spectral/hp elements with classic orthogonal polynomial approximation theory, we devise an adaptive scheme which allows the polynomial approximation along a ray-segment to be arbitrarily close to the true solution. The resulting images converge toward a pixel-exact image at a rate far faster than sampling the spectral/hp element solution and applying classic low-order visualization techniques such as marching cubes.


AbstractThis paper reports on two Entrepreneurial Orientation dimensions: autonomy and innovativenessThis paper reports on two Entrepreneurial Orientation dimensions: autonomy and innovativeness since there has been no significant research in this area in Indonesia, particularly related to the context of SMEs. The purpose of this paper is to report on an empirical investigation of the role of autonomy and innovativeness in the firm performance of Indonesian SMEs, using a mixed methods approach. Findings from the quantitative data analysis confirmed that autonomy and innovativeness were adopted by Indonesian SMEs. However, these EO dimensions were found to have no significant relationships with firm performance. The qualitative data analysis clarified these findings, indicating that autonomy has not been utilised fully in these companies due to the cultural background of the managers/owners. For innovativeness, the characteristics of the sample industry contribute to the innovation behaviour demonstrated by respondents. This study makes important contributions to entrepreneurship research and has meaningful implications for managers and policy makers.


The spectrum of indium has been photographed in the region 270–2400 A on 3 and 10.7 m normal-incidence spectrographs. The sources used were a sliding spark and a triggered vacuum spark operated at various conditions. On the basis of these observations all levels of the 4d85s configuration and the unknown levels in the 4d85p configuration in In v have been located. The designation of the levels 4d8(³P)5p²P1/20 and 4d8(¹D)5p²P1/20 have been interchanged. The parametric level fitting calculations for the configurations and the intensity calculations for the 4d85p–4d85s transitions confirm the analysis. There are 275 additional lines now classified in this spectrum.


The success of science, especially physics, is often invoked as contrasting with the degeneration of world-views involving immaterial persons. A popular question from the 17th century to the 21st is how human minds/souls could interact with bodies in light of physical conservation laws. Leibniz invented this objection and wielded it to motivate his novel non-interactionist dualism, pre-established harmony.

A historical treatment of how this objection has been made over the centuries vis-a-vis the growth of knowledge of physics and logical persuasiveness is desirable. Given the massive amount of material, selectivity is necessary. This paper covers the period until Euler. While physics has of course advanced subsequently, most of these advances are either irrelevant or perhaps even harmful to Leibniz's objection (except General Relativity). Many of the most important advances, such as the connection between symmetries and conservation laws (known to Lagrange in the early 19th century), were in any case unknown to philosophers. The 18th century debate involved leading figures in an era when physics and philosophy were less separated. Thus the 18th century debate, normatively construed, is instructive for today.


Background: There is no restricted area free from cancer. Skin cancer and soft-tissue sarcoma (STS) are among many types of cancer that can develop among any population worldwide. Thus, it is important to follow-up these malignant diseases in Iraq cities for information about the epidemiological pattern of such types of cancer. Methods: Incidence rate, prevalence, and age-specific rate (ASR) for skin and STS were determined. The data about 143 positive cases of skin cancer and 38 patients with STS in Karbala, a city in Iraq, were collected for the past 8 years (2008-2015). Results: The prevalence and incidence rate were found higher for STS than for skin cancer, especially in males. In males with skin cancer, the ASR was greater than 10 per 100,000 of the population for the age range 50–85 years, whereas in females, it was for 40–85 + years over the period considered. Meanwhile, in males with STS, a higher ASR was shown for age range 55–85+ years, whereas it was for 65–74 years in females. Conclusion: The STS showed a higher prevalence and incidence rate than that skin cancer, especially in older males. Both types of malignant disease are considered among more serious types of cancer among the population of Karbala and people are under the progressive risk of such type of cancers.


Understanding how the germ layers are formed is one of the key questions of developmental biology. Abundant studies in the anuran amphibian Xenopus laevis have described that maternal and vegetally localised mRNAs for VegT and Vg1 contribute greatly to the formation of mesoderm and endoderm in the developing embryo. Within Xenopus mesendoderm gene-regulatory network (GRN), Wnt/β-catenin as well as Nodal and Mix family members have been shown to play important roles. The involvement of several members of the Nodal and Mix gene families with redundant functions makes the mesendoderm GRN surprisingly complex and difficult to study in Xenopus laevis. By contrast, mouse and humans have only single copies of Nodal and Mix. Since urodeles have an embryology that is basal to amphibians and that has most likely also been conserved during the evolution of amniotes, including mammals, we have investigated the Mix and Nodal genes in the urodele Axolotl in the hope that their gene families contained fewer members. We cloned one Mix and two Nodal orthologs from the axolotl and showed by Southern blot analysis that there are likely no further copies in the axolotl genome. Morpholino and rescue experiments furthermore showed that AxNodal-1, Mix and Brachyury play essential roles in mesoderm specification in axolotl embryos, suggesting that the urodele Axolotl has a more simplified mesendoderm GRN. In this context, we demonstrate that Mix acts to induce Brachyury expression during mesoderm induction. Mixl1 shRNA knowdown in mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) shows that Mixl1 is involved in the production of mesoderm in mESCs too. Analysis of the localisation of the VegT and Vg1 mRNAs in oocytes revealed that they are neither vegetally localised in the Axolotl, nor in the basal fish species lungfish and sturgeon. Furthermore, gain and loss of function assays examining the roles of maternal VegT and β-catenin demonstrated that VegT is not required for mesoderm induction, whereas β-catenin is necessary and sufficient for mesoderm induction by activating AxNodal-1 expression in the axolotl. As these results reveal additional similarities to the GRN in mammals they further support our hypothesis that the regulatory network in the axolotl is more closely related to that in amniotes rather than anuran amphibians.


After nearly eight years of higher education reform in Europe under the Bologna Process, progress reports and analyses vary - and sometimes even contradict each other. This volume contains contributions from higher education experts across Europe and speaks to the changing relationship between higher education and society in Central, Southern and Eastern Europe, especially in terms of the need for revised management strategies in knowledge-based organisations. While some of the views present evidence that corroborates official reports by signatory countries of the Bologna Process, some directly challenge the official perspective, and will hopefully invite further revision and improvement of the European higher education reform process. Other contributors offer recommendations based on their experiences with strategic management, inviting colleagues across Europe to open their doors to new practices and alternative solutions to the challenges inherent to running a knowledge-based institution. In sum, this publication adds both depth and breadth to the growing body of literature on the continuing developments in higher education in Europe.


Reliability and validity of measurement tools in master dissertations is essential in flawless evaluation of research result. It ensures that collected data by these tools help in achieving results of study. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the properties of measuring tools used in nursing dissertations in Isfahan in 2015. this research is descriptive type of study. For this purpose, 237 dissertations of Medical Science University and 125 dissertations of Islamic Azad University were selected and analyzed using census sampling method. Data on properties of measuring tools used in them were collected by researcher-made information recording form. To analyze the collected data, descriptive statistics using SPSS software was used.in this study, the most common measuring tool at the dissertations was questionnaire and 50.5% of them made by researcher. In the majority of dissertations, the validity and reliability of researcher-made and standard tool had been evaluated. Researchermade tools in most cases investigated using content validity and test-retest reliability. In 54.3% of the cases, validity had been examined by referring to reference, while reliability had been examined by Cronbach's reliability. Among the standard tools used in the dissertations examined, the validity and reliability for the tools for the available sample had not been re-examined in majority of dissertations. In studies where physiological measurement tools have been used, properties of these tools have not been considered in the majority of cases. the findings suggest there are some problems in the process of proving the validity and reliability of measuring tools used in dissertations, requiring that researchers, supervisors, and referees to pay enough attention for this issue.


Semiaromatic polyamides are attractive engineering polymers owing to their outstanding thermomechanical properties. To expand the scope of semiaromatic polyamides by additional optoelectronic features, one may consider the incorporation of extended π-conjugated systems based on fused heterocycles into the polymer backbone. Here, we report on the five-step synthesis of a benzofurobenzofuran dicarboxylic acid monomer on the gram-scale starting from commercial precursors along with its structural characterization. Three corresponding polyamides were prepared by solution-phase polycondensation under Yamazaki–Higashi conditions to prove the suitability of this method for the synthesis of semiaromatic polyamides based on fused heterocyclic cores. The polyamides were thermally characterized and investigated with respect to their chemical and supramolecular structures, as well as their optical and electronic properties.


An important asset for most businesses is customer recognition of their products and services. By carefully selecting and managing trade names, product names, logos, slogans, and images, companies try to create an association between a product or service and intangible characteristics, such as excitement, respect, fun, or reliability. To create such associations, companies use trademarks. A trademark is any device that identifies the source of a specific product or service. Service marks, certification marks, collective marks, and collective membership marks are used in the same way. Service marks indicate services, such as entertainment services or restaurant services. Certification marks show that the owner of the mark recognizes a product or service as having specific characteristics. For example, "The Florida Sunshine Tree" certifies that the goods bearing the mark either consist of citrus fruit grown in the state of Florida, under specified standards, or are processed or manufactured from or with such citrus fruit.(2) Another certification mark, "Underwriters Laboratories, Inc.," certifies that representative samplings of certain types of goods conform to the requirements used by Underwriters Laboratories, Inc., for safety testing.(3) A trade association can authorize its members to use a collective mark for certain types of goods or services. The "California Association of Flower Growers-Shippers" mark belongs to a floral industry association of the same name.(4) "Boy Scouts of America," on the other hand, is a collective membership mark that indicates membership in an organization.(5) For the sake of this discussion, all types of marks will be referred to as trademarks. While all four of the trademarks mentioned above are registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, many trademarks are not. A prerequisite for federal registration is that the owner must use the trademark, or intend to use it, in interstate or international commerce. Otherwise, the trademark cannot be registered with the PTO. Another option available to businesses is registration at the state level. All fifty states have provisions for registering trademarks, corporation names, assumed business names, or all three. However, the provisions vary from state to state. The trademark owner may elect not to register the trademark at all. Federal law and the laws of some states provide some protection for such marks, known as common law trademarks. Protection for registered trademarks is generally regarded as much better than common law trademarks, but many businesses find reasons not to register, nonetheless. Library patrons sometimes need to search trademarks. Some want to contact the business that owns a particular mark. Others want to establish a new trademark and need to determine whether a potential trademark is already in use by another business. They might conduct a preliminary search to screen their choices and make adjustments to a potential trademark before attempting to register it. This column will focus on the specific needs of searchers who want to do preliminary screenings. State and federal laws define what is and what is not a trademark, and therefore have an effect on searching. However, nothing here should be construed as legal advice to libraries or library patrons. When specific legal rights are at stake, affected persons should consult with a legal professional rather than an information professional. Special Consideration for Searching Trademarks serve a special purpose. Trademark screening requires much more consideration than simple searches for exact matches. For businesses, the trademark itself is important, but it is really secondary to the customer recognition it generates for products and services. If two businesses use similar marks that confuse their customers as to the sources of products or services, then the trademarks create problems, not recognition. The trademarks do not have to be identical for this problem to arise. …


Trigonella foenum graecum commonly known as fenugreek (Menthikura) is a traditional Indian medicinal plant of the Fabiaceae family. It is commonly used as traditional food and medicine. The plant has been found to be possessing pharmacological activities such as antioxidants and antidiabetic. The present investigation undertaken to perform phytochemical screening and antioxidant activity of leaf, stem and seeds of various extract of T. foenum graecum by using ethanol as solvent. The antioxidant activity of ethanolic extracts was performed by using Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2) scavenging method. All the extracts showed significant results compared with standard drug ascorbic acid. The preliminary phytochemical screening of ethanolic extracts of T. foenum graecum showed the presence of primary and secondary metabolites. This study describes the phytochemical investigation and antioxidant activity of T. foenum graecum. The results obtained in the present study clearly indicate that the ethanolic seed extract of T. foenum graecum having potent phytochemicals, antioxidant action than leaf and stem.


Abstract. Avalanche warning services publish avalanche condition reports, often called avalanche bulletins, to help backcountry recreationists make informed risk management decisions about when and where to travel in avalanche terrain. To be successful, the information presented in bulletins must be properly understood and applied prior to entering avalanche terrain. However, few avalanche bulletin elements have been empirically tested for their efficacy in communicating hazard information. The objective of this study is to explicitly test the effectiveness of three different graphics representing the aspect and elevation of avalanche problems on users' ability to apply the information. To address this question, we conducted an online survey that presented participants with one of three graphic renderings of avalanche problem information and asked them to rank a series of route options in order of their exposure to the described hazard. Following completion of route ranking tasks, users were presented with all three graphics and asked to rate how effective they thought the graphics were. Our analysis dataset included responses from 3,056 backcountry recreationists with a variety of backgrounds and avalanche safety training levels. Using a series of generalized linear mixed effects models, our analysis shows that a graphic format that combines the aspect and elevation information for each avalanche problem is the most effective graphic for helping users understand the avalanche hazard conditions because it resulted in higher success in picking the correct exposure ranking, faster completion times, and was rated by users to be the most effective. These results are consistent with existing research on the impact of graphics on cognitive load and can be applied by avalanche warning services to improve the communication of avalanche hazard to readers of their avalanche bulletins.


BGP communities are a mechanism widely used by operators to manage policy, mitigate attacks, and engineer traffic; e.g., to drop unwanted traffic, filter announcements, adjust local preference, and prepend paths to influence peer selection. Unfortunately, we show that BGP communities can be exploited by remote parties to influence routing in unintended ways. The BGP community-based vulnerabilities we expose are enabled by a combination of complex policies, error-prone configurations, a lack of cryptographic integrity and authenticity over communities, and the wide extent of community propagation. Due in part to their ill-defined semantics, BGP communities are often propagated far further than a single routing hop, even though their intended scope is typically limited to nearby ASes. Indeed, we find 14% of transit ASes forward received BGP communities onward. Given the rich inter-connectivity of transit ASes, this means that communities effectively propagate globally. As a consequence, remote adversaries can use BGP communities to trigger remote blackholing, steer traffic, and manipulate routes even without prefix hijacking. We highlight examples of these attacks via scenarios that we tested and measured both in the lab as well as in the wild. While we suggest what can be done to mitigate such ill effects, it is up to the Internet operations community whether to take up the suggestions.


Clutching a clipboard, the new lab assistant strides purposefully down the corridor of the great ape wing. As he walks past the row of enclosures, he engages in good-natured banter with the chimpanzees, tossing peanuts as he goes, stopping here and there to engage with some of the more fr iendly apes. But as he approaches one particular female chimpanzees cage, his steps falter, his demeanor becomes more guarded and watchful. He slows to a near-crawl, his confident stride reduced to a slinking, furtive posture. And there she is, ever watchful, waiting for him. Mega is a young adult female chimpanzee. She is not particularly large, nor is she dominant in her group. But where other chimpanzees enjoy throwing the occasional malodorous fistful of feces at people, for Mega it seems a divine calling. With a fistful of excrement clutched in her left hand, Mega becomes a fearsome and terrible menace with the strength of a boxer and the accuracy of a professional baseball pitcher. She even hoards her ammunition, protecting it against the cage-cleaning eff orts of the husbandry staff . Nobody here has escaped her prodigious talent. As the lab assistant approaches, she raises her left hand in the air, oscillating with quiet menace. The lab assistant decides he'll make a run for it. He raises his clipboard as a shield and begins to sprint down the corridor, the tails of his pristine white lab coat flapping behind him. With his first step Mega holds her position, waiting for the exact millisecond of opportunity when the V-neck of the humans surgical gown flashes vulnerably open. And by the second step in his desperate run, she has released her fetid missile, unerringly finding her mark. As the soiled lab assistant trudges past in defeat, he wonders: Why does she always use her left hand when so many of the others use their right?


Background: The level of acculturation of migrants varies and is associated with variations in mental health. However, this association is complex and may differ among migrant groups. Aim: The aim of this study is to explore the association between acculturation, mental health and treatment effect. Methods: In a longitudinal cohort study of patients treated in specialized mental health facilities, different dimensions of acculturation (skills, social integration, traditions, norms/values and feelings of loss) were explored for Moroccan, Turkish and Surinamese migrants in the Netherlands. Furthermore, the associations between acculturation status and symptom levels, quality of life, care needs and effects of mental health treatment were examined. Data were analyzed with analysis of covariance, correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis. Results: Acculturation status differed among migrant groups. Turkish migrants showed most original culture maintenance (traditions, norms/values), Surinamese migrants showed most participation in Dutch society (skills, social integration), while Moroccan migrants were situated in between. Higher cultural adaptation was associated with less need for care, lower symptom levels and a higher quality of life. Participation significantly predicted lower symptom levels (p < .001) and higher quality of life (p < .001) 6 months after the start of treatment. Conclusion: This study confirms that acculturation status is associated with symptom levels, quality of life and perceived need for care of migrants. Moreover, participation in Dutch society appears to be a favorable factor for treatment effect. It is of importance for professionals in clinical practice to be attentive to this.


With the fast development of COVID-19 into a global pandemic, scientists around the globe are desperately searching for effective antiviral therapeutic agents. Bridging systems biology and drug discovery, we propose a deep learning framework for conditional de novo design of antiviral candidate drugs tailored against given protein targets. First, we train a multimodal ligand--protein binding affinity model on predicting affinities of antiviral compounds to target proteins and couple this model with pharmacological toxicity predictors. Exploiting this multi-objective as a reward function of a conditional molecular generator (consisting of two VAEs), we showcase a framework that navigates the chemical space toward regions with more antiviral molecules. Specifically, we explore a challenging setting of generating ligands against unseen protein targets by performing a leave-one-out-cross-validation on 41 SARS-CoV-2-related target proteins. Using deep RL, it is demonstrated that in 35 out of 41 cases, the generation is biased towards sampling more binding ligands, with an average increase of 83% comparing to an unbiased VAE. We present a case-study on a potential Envelope-protein inhibitor and perform a synthetic accessibility assessment of the best generated molecules is performed that resembles a viable roadmap towards a rapid in-vitro evaluation of potential SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors.


Site-specific management units (SSMUs), similar in soil, plant, and irrigation requirements, are foundational to efficient management in precision agriculture. This concept is applied to management of complex turfgrass sites to improve irrigation practices. An experimental mobile unit mapped two golf fairways' turfgrass (Paspalum vaginatum SW.; 'Salam') in Naples, FL in summer 2006 on a 2.5 m grid for volumetric water content (VWC) by time-domain reflectrometry at field capacity and normalized difference vegetative index (NDVI). Objectives were to determine suitability of the GPS-enabled mapping device and to develop protocols for defining and characterizing SSMUs by geographic information system (GIS) methods. Semivariogram analysis revealed that the mapping grid of 2.5 m was within the lowest observed range of 11.7 m for geospatial dependence for either VWC or NDVI. SSMU delineation was based on stable landscape traits of VWC at field capacity and topographic factors; with NDVI data as secondary. Descriptive and geostatistical means to best characterize SSMUs are presented. Use of field capacity VWC based distribution uniformity (DU) parameters is discussed for efficient irrigation scheduling applications within SSMUs.


As new services and business models are being associated with the power distribution network, it becomes of great importance to include load uncertainty in predictive computational tools. In this paper, an efficient uncertainty-aware load flow analysis is described which relies on generalized polynomial chaos and stochastic testing methods. It is described how the method can be implemented in order to account for real data-based load profiles due to two different usage models: residential loads and electrical vehicle charging profiles. Hence, it is shown how some relevant information affecting the quality of service can be deduced by means of non-elementary post-processing computations. The proposed technique is tested by using a benchmark scenario for typical European low voltage networks, considering the variation of both residential loads and EV charging profiles. The results are compared with the same simulation done by means of the Monte Carlo methodology. The consideration done during the analysis will be useful to clarify the application of the methodology but also to understand the effect of load variations on the grid characteristic quantities.


We consider a model for a serial supply chain in which production, inventory, and transportation decisions are integrated, in the presence of production capacities and for different transportation cost functions. The model we study is a generalization of the traditional single-item economic lot-sizing model, adding stationary production capacities at the manufacturer, as well as multiple intermediate storage levels (including the retailer level), and transportation between these levels. Allowing for general concave production costs and linear holding costs, we provide polynomial time algorithms for the cases where the transportation costs are either linear, or are concave with a fixed-charge structure. In the latter case, we make the additional common and reasonable assumption that the variable transportation and inventory costs are such that holding inventories at higher levels in the supply chain is more attractive from a variable cost perspective. The running times of the algorithms are remarkably insensitive to the number of levels in the supply chain.


Introduction Religious ministry to people in prison reaches back to the 15th century (Zimmer, 2005). Later the phenomenon of religion influenced the penal system in the United States where the linkage between religion and rehabilitation was manifested in the Calvinist New York silent system and the Quaker Philadelphia separate system (O'Connor, 2004). Religion was also influential in penal reform in England and Wales during the late 18th century (Howard, 1777) and evangelical theology inspired the probation system which emerged from the police court mission of the Church of England Temperance Society (Whitehead and Statham, 2006). Additionally Gilbert (1966) asserted that various humanitarian institutions within Victorian society operated with a religious ideology. Accordingly there is a historical connection of considerable longevity between the spheres of religion, penal policy, and criminal justice formation. The previous decade has witnessed a renaissance of the religious question within criminal justice in the United States (Sundt, Dammer and Cullen, 2002). It has also erupted into life in England and Wales within the context of structural re-formation associated with the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), and the Green Paper Breaking the Cycle (Ministry of Justice, 2010) encourages the diversification of offender services through creating opportunities for the public, private, and third sectors. Within this marketised environment interest has been directed towards the efficacy of religion and faith-based interventions to rehabilitate offenders, which resonates with the Big Society of the Conservative-Liberal coalition government. Furthermore an extensive body of evidence has accumulated on the efficacy of religion and correctional programmes located within the United States as well as other countries (Aos, Miller and Drake, 2006; O'Connor, 2004, 2004/5; Johnson, 2011), according to which some studies 'have found a link between spiritual practice and reduced recidivism, but other studies have found no such link' (O'Connor, Cayton, Min and Duncan, 2007: 2). The purpose and scope of this article considers some of the evidence on the relationship between religion, faith-based interventions, and crime reduction. By doing so it exposes surface tensions which impinge upon the rationale of faith communities, particularly the relatively new phenomenon of community chaplaincy which will assume analytical relevance later. At this point it should be clarified that community chaplaincy began in Canada during the 1980s and over recent years has taken root in England and Wales where it supports people leaving prison. Indubitably the dominant theme within contemporary criminal justice remains reducing crime, to which community chaplaincy is expected to contribute. However it will be argued that the religious question has significance beyond the narrow instrumental confines of achieving this often elusive objective. This includes a perspective often neglected which is the moral obligation of community chaplaincy to engage with people leaving prison through supportive relationships, but also to draw attention to structural and material factors in what is an increasingly testing economic environment. It is therefore timely to draw attention to the religious question through the lens of community chaplaincy within contemporary criminal justice. Before expanding upon these matters it is necessary to review some of the evidence on religion, deviance, and crime. In doing so I refer to the research environment within the United States but will also allude to some research produced in the United Kingdom. Religion, delinquency, and criminality: some research evidence William Kvaraceus, Assistant Superintendent of Schools of Passaic, New Jersey, reached back to the 1930s to studies which examined the relationship between religious training, beliefs, and behaviour. His own study comprised 761 delinquents (563 boys and 198 girls) referred to the Passaic Children's Bureau during a five year period before 1944. …


Proteins are often able to distinguish between closely related ligands, thus achieving specificity. A major goal in biophysical chemistry is to understand the molecular basis for protein-ligand recognition. This level of understanding is necessary for developing methods to accurately predict protein-ligand binding energetics from structural data. The goal of this thesis was to identify features of protein-ligand interactions that may not be adequately accounted for in structure energetics calculations in order to improve our ability to predict binding energetics for these interactions. Specifically, the features of protein-nucleotide binding were studied using the small, guanine-specific ribonuclease, RNase Sa binding to two closely related nucleotide inhibitors, guanosine-3'-monophosphate (3'GMP) and inosine-3'-monophosphate (3'IMP) as a model system. Comparing the binding of these two inhibitors using isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), x-ray crystallography, NMR and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations has revealed important determinants of guanine base recognition by proteins, specifically the role of the exocyclic amino group (N2) of the guanine base. Importantly, due to the high conservation of guanine binding sites in proteins, the observations for RNase Sa can potentially be extended to other systems. In addition, RNase Sa has provided a well-defined system for the investigation of changes in heat capacity and changes in backbone dynamics upon ligand binding. All of the data presented here support the idea that fluctuations in protein structure can contribute significantly to protein-nucleotide binding energetics even for an apparently rigid-body interaction. These fluctuations make a significant contribution to the enthalpy, entropy, and heat capacity changes associated with the RNase Sa-nucleotide interaction. This implies that fast time-scale motions must be accounted for to optimize structure-based calculations for protein-nucleotide binding. The use of molecular dynamics simulations is


Grain legumes form an important component of the human diet, provide feed for livestock, and replenish soil fertility through biological nitrogen fixation. Globally, the demand for food legumes is increasing as they complement cereals in protein requirements and possess a high percentage of digestible protein. Climate change has enhanced the frequency and intensity of drought stress, posing serious production constraints, especially in rainfed regions where most legumes are produced. Genetic improvement of legumes, like other crops, is mostly based on pedigree and performance-based selection over the past half century. To achieve faster genetic gains in legumes in rainfed conditions, this review proposes the integration of modern genomics approaches, high throughput phenomics, and simulation modelling in support of crop improvement that leads to improved varieties that perform with appropriate agronomy. Selection intensity, generation interval, and improved operational efficiencies in breeding are expected to further enhance the genetic gain in experimental plots. Improved seed access to farmers, combined with appropriate agronomic packages in farmers' fields, will deliver higher genetic gains. Enhanced genetic gains, including not only productivity but also nutritional and market traits, will increase the profitability of farming and the availability of affordable nutritious food especially in developing countries.


This article posits that the JPML and Federal Circuit, despite their range of differences, can benefit from one another and remedy each other's complex institutional challenges. The Federal Circuit can eliminate the unfairness in multidistrict litigation practice and can guide multidistrict litigation by providing uniform federal precedent. Multidistrict litigation, which is as procedurally complex as it is substantively broad, can enable the Federal Circuit to speak on non-patent law and can position the circuit to see more clearly how patents affect the overall economy. Through these mutual benefits, these institutions can promote justice and cost-effectiveness for each litigant in every patent action and every MDL proceeding. To that end, this article proposes that Congress vest in the Federal Circuit exclusive appellate jurisdiction over the JPML and MDL courts.


The church is in transition at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Throughout western history, the church has spoken her truth and been a primary source of community, faith, and life. She now struggles to find relevance as contemporary societal currents create confusion. The result is a clash of sacred and secular as the church adapts to a postmodem world and global society. The contemporary church may have forgotten her identity as God's people sent into the world; instead, she may have found herself a purveyor in a consumerist culture. The thesis of this paper is that the church can regain her biblical identity as a missional community and practice a faithful evangelical mission. Mission involves essential characteristics that are necessary for the church to engage the postmodem world. Chapter 1 introduces the postmodem challenge and lays the foundation for the rest of the paper. This chapter provides demographics, definitions, and a context for understanding the uniqueness of the challenge. Chapter 2 presents foundation biblical materials about the church's mission and identity, offers scriptural evidence for God's calling, and assesses how far the contemporary church has strayed from its biblical mandate. Chapter 3 includes material from Christian history and thought that demonstrates the church has reached cultures in the past in ways the modem church has not accomplished. Chapter 4 describes the missional evangelism models applicable in the postmodem environment and the church's response to the challenges. Different models of leadership are presented in Chapter 5 that facilitate the transition into a missional community. Chapter 6 identifies characteristics essential for missional church evangelistic efforts in the postmodem culture that communicate the gospel in today's world. The paper's conclusion reaffirms the thesis statement and the concept that the church is sent into the world on mission and can engage the postmodem culture.


This publication provides and analyses the European Union Structural Funds impact on the disparity the Irelands and Greece, Spain and Portugal. As my assumption is that Structural Funds were not enough acceptably put to use, thus this article provides the actual results observed in an attempt to prove this supposition by explaining the major examples of Ireland's recent economic growth. The Irish experience and comparative analysis of Greece, Spain and Portugal cases is used as a model of successful use of structural funding. Despite its limitations, Ireland economic convergence is compared with the other Cohesion countries during the 1988, 1993 and 1999 reforms.


This paper explores the economic impacts of Korean unification on North and South Korea. It presents a new consistent database on macroeconomic, sectoral and trade data, and an input output table for the North Korean economy, and then incorporates it in a global intertemporal multi-sector general equilibrium model. Assuming three hypothetical scenarios such as North Korea's reform and gradual convergence, its sudden collapse and immediate unification, and chaos and crises in both Koreas, we quantify the consequences of Korean unification on economic activity, trade and capital flows in the two Koreas. The results highlight the importance of the unification processes and of alternative policy responses in both Koreas to the economic impacts of unification.


South to the Future writes and distributes news online. Like the Associated Press (AP), South to the Future makes its stories available to newspapers and Web sites. Like those of the AP or other news outlets, stories from South to the Future feature statistics, expert opinions, background details, and quotations from sources. Like the AP's, the stories are generally considered to be "true." Unlike other news outlets, however, South to the Future incorporates fictional elements along with documented facts. Stories from South to the Future make their own sense; their hybridity, like that of the mule, serves only to make them stronger, heartier, more durable. INFORMATION COMMODITY INFORMATION ART POLITICS NOISE NEWS HISTORY NEWS NEW Benjamin Franklin did it. In the 1720s, the printer, inventor, and statesman wrote a series of articles for the New England Courant using the identity of a woman named Silence Dogood. It was not uncommon then for writers to take on other identities for the purpose of pressing a point or expressing a point of view. Irony was certainly not lost on the newspaper reading audience in the early eighteenth century. Like Franklin's, South to the Future's newsy yet fantastic blend of fact and fiction is true to itself. It looks simultaneously to the past and the future. It embraces the commodification of information and then proceeds to turn it into art. But what is the South to the Future World Wide Wire Service? How can a fiction be considered a truth? What does consuming information commodities have to do with knowing what's going on. And how can distributed networks and virtual communities give a story life by making it their own? We'll start to answer those questions by looking into what's at the bottom of this. The South to the Future World Wide Wire Service is a weekly feed of technology, news, commentary and satire. Quotations attributed to public figures who are satirized are often true, but sometimes invented. Some fictional statements may, in fact, be true. Any other use of real names is accidental and coincidental. Thus reads the disclaimer that follows each weekly installment of the World Wide Wire Service. South to the Future has been distributing his new kind of news story via the Web since 1996. Headline: "Christian Anti-Gambling Campaign Targets Wall Street." Headline: "Ghetto 2000: Smart Public Housing." Headline: "Camping Gear for the Homeless Article upsets some." Headline: "PETA protests pet prozac: A petcare worker is arrested for taking custody of animals being fed antianxiety drugs against their will." Headline: "Computers linked to illiteracy." Before the World Wide Wire Service was picked up by the online edition of San Francisco's alternative weekly newspaper, it was distributed electronically to a mailing list of around 200 journalists. The stories mimic the style of an Associated Press dispatch but take their cue from the likes of Mark Twain. The idea was to create entertaining, sometimes apocalyptic news accounts based on current trends and events in technology, politics, and culture. Essentially literary "porno for journos," South to the Future set out to create a "trickle down effect," that is, to spark mainstream journalists to cover the critical issues ironically posited by World Wide Wire Service stories. Journalists, however, tended to get stuck on our first question, that is, how a fiction can be considered a truth. Prisoners Demand Cyberrights, Requesting Free Speech not Free Weights This Associated Press-style story details the particulars of "Esteban Caliban and Ed Douglass v. the California Department of Corrections." With the help of attorney Michelle Foo-Kwo, two inmates serving life sentences sue for access to personal computers and the Internet. Date: 31 Oct 1997 From: kelleher@hotwired. …


The purpose of this study is to evaluate the diffusion of the Adobe sustainable housing technology in Ethiopia. There are multiple factors either generating or restraining the diffusion of the technology, these factors are viewed and analyzed by an Innovation theory. During an 8 week field study empirical data has been gathered from multiple geographical areas. A multiple case study approach has been adopted and through qualitative interviews with stakeholders and technical inspections of Adobe buildings, data has been documented. In conclusion the technological diffusion of innovation has reached different levels in the different cases. Presented is how the rate and level of diffusion is interdependent with natural resources depletion, positive or negative demonstrations, knowledge diffusion as well as profitable or unhelpful interplay between micro and macro players present on the Ethiopian housing market.


Biosystems are complex. Their physiology is well-controlled with various negative feedback signals and processes, it describes by opposite interfering effects which are characterized in the Eastern philosophy by Yin-Yang (Y-Y) pairs. Y-Y pairs could be described by the promoter-suppressor pairs in a wide range of physiologic signals creating the homeostasis of the complex system. This type of control appears as fluctuations from the average (mean) value of the signal. The mean carries an ineluctable fluctuation (called pink-noise or 1/f noise). All signals in homeostasis have equal entropy (SE = 1.8), which is the character of the complex equilibrium. The various controlling opposite signals (Y-Y) have different time-scales which change by aging. The processes with smaller time-scale are degraded by aging, but the pink-noise ensures that the deviations of the signals of the healthy homeostatic system remain constant. Meridians are connected to the general transport systems that combined the material and the information transport with the considerable transport networks, like blood, lymph, nerve, cell-junctions, mesenchymal "ground substance" cytoskeletons. The meridians in this meaning only virtual line averaged from multiple realized paths to connect two acupuncture points by the material, energy and information transport processes. The meridian network is designed by various coupling points (acupoints), which could be perturbed by actuating stimulus. Our objective is to describe the meridian system from complexity point of view.


The design and characterization of an imaging sensor based on single photon avalanche diodes is presented. The sensor was fully integrated in a 0.35μm CMOS technology. The core of the imager is an array of 4x112 pixels that independently and simultaneously detect the arrival time of photons with picosecond accuracy. A novel event-driven readout scheme allows parallel column-wise and non-sequential, on-demand row-wise operation. Both time-correlated and time-uncorrelated measurements are supported in the sensor. The readout scheme is scalable and requires only 11 transistors per pixel with a pitch of 25μm. A number of standard performance measurements for the imager are presented in the paper. An average dark count rate of 6Hz and 750Hz are reported at room temperature respectively for an active area diameter of 4μm and 10μm, while the dead time is 40ns with negligible crosstalk. A timing resolution better than 80ps over the entire integrated array makes this technique ideal for a fully integrated high resolution streak camera, thus enabling fast TCSPC experiments. Applications requiring low noise, picosecond timing accuracies, and measurement parallelism are prime candidates for this technology. Examples of such applications include bioimaging at cellular and molecular level based on fluorescence lifetime imaging and/or, fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, as well as fast optical imaging, optical rangefinders, LIDAR, and low light level imagers.


Bonato L., lorio É. & Minelli A. 2011. — The centipede genus Clinopodes C. L. Koch, 1847 (Chilopoda, Geophilomorpha, Geophilidae): reassessment of species diversity and distribution, with a new species from the Maritime Alps (France). Zoosystema 33 (2): 175–205. ABSTRACT Diagnosis, circumscription, species-level taxonomy and geographical occurrence of the genus Clinopodes C. L. Koch, 1847 (Chilopoda, Geophilomorpha, Geophilidae) are revised by integrating published information with new evidence on its morphological diversity. Clinopodes is clearly distinguishable from all other geophilid lineages by a combination of features mainly in the forcipular segment, the trunk sternites and the ultimate legs. It is widespread in south-eastern Europe, from the Alps to the Caucasus. A total of 10 species are recognized, mainly differing in minor features of the forcipular coxosternite and the arrangement of sternal and coxal pores: C. carinthiacus (Latzel, 1880) n. stat.; C. caucasicus (Selivanov, 1884) n. comb. formerly Geophilus caucasicus; C. escherichii (Verhoeff, 1896); C. flavidus C. L. Koch, 1847; C. intermedius Dărăbanţu & Matic, 1969; C. latisternus (Attems, 1947) n. comb. from Pleurogeophilus latisternus; C. rodnaensis (Verhoeff, 1938); C. skopljensis (Verhoeff, 1938); C. verhoeffi n. nom. (for Geophilus flavidus porosus Verhoeff, 1934); C. vesubiensis n. sp., Geophilus lindbergi (Loksa, 1971), n. comb. formerly Clinopodes lindbergi, is demonstrated to have been classified erroneously under Clinopodes. Clinopodes vesubiensis n. sp. is described from a limited area in the southern Maritime Alps, at the western border of the entire range of the genus, and disjunct from the morphologically closest species C. carinthiacus, suggesting that the history of differentiation and colonization of the genus within the Alps has been more complex than previously thought.


Abstract Correlational analysis of two years of classroom observation indicates relationships between technology use and various classroom characteristics, including teacher roles and instructional strategies. Three observers used the ISTE Classroom Observation Tool (ICOT) to record 144 observations of classrooms participating in a variety of educational technology grant programs in the United States. The findings suggest that decision makers consider the instructional implications and possible unintended consequences of implementing different information and communication technologies.


Often the development of novel materials is not amenable to high-throughput or purely computational screening methods. Instead, materials must be synthesized one at a time in a process that does not generate significant amounts of data. One way this method can be improved is by ensuring that each experiment provides the best improvement in both material properties and predictive modeling accuracy. In this work, we study the effectiveness of active learning, which optimizes the order of experiments, and meta learning, which transfers knowledge from one context to another, to reduce the number of experiments necessary to build a predictive model. We present a novel multi-task benchmark database of peptides designed to advance active, few-shot, and meta-learning methods for experimental design. Each task is binary classification of peptides represented as a sequence string. We show results of standard active learning and meta-learning methods across these datasets to assess their ability to improve predictive models with the fewest number of experiments. We find the ensemble query by committee active learning method to be effective. The meta-learning method Reptile was found to improve accuracy. The robustness of these conclusions were tested across multiple model choices. We find that combining meta-learning with active learning methods offers inconsistent benefits.


Moisture content is one of the most crucial factors influencing soil and rock strength. This paper deals with the effect of moisture content on strength of older alluvium under dry, wet and saturated conditions. Older alluvium is semi cemented eroded deposited and reshaped by water to make non-marine setting. Specimens were tested in for shear strength, hardness and point load index. According to these results, the petrophysical properties of older alluvium decrease with increasing moisture. The strength was extremely reduced after the moisture content increased over the range of natural moisture content i.e. at saturated condition. For soil mechanics and soil engineering projects the shear strength, friction angle and cohesion assess at dry condition in order to give classification for soil strength. While the design parameters (shear strength, friction angle and cohesion) were taken at weak condition i.e. saturated and wet condition. However the difficulties and non reliable preparing regular samples at laboratory, most of samples destroyed during the sample preparation. Point load apparatus and Schmidt (rebound) hammer test did not able to record any reading during test the samples for both wet and dry condition. Older alluvium shows equilibrium between distribution of the clay/silt and gravel with percent finer approximately 38% and 38.5% respectively, and lower presence of sand with percent finer approximately 23.4%. The range of natural moisture content was within range of 17.98 to 19.65%. The results revealed that moisture content have great influence in the reduction of the shear strength t, friction angle O and cohesion c. When the moisture content on older alluvium deposits increased the shear strength reduced to 22.3% and to 75.3% at wet and saturated condition respectively (the shear strength equal to 57.4kPa and 18.3kPa for wet and saturated condition respectively) in comparison to the magnitude of shear strength at dry condition (shear strength at dry condition equal to 74.1kPa). The same as for friction angle, when the moisture content increased the friction angle reduced to 18.6% and 66.9% at wet condition and saturated condition respectively (friction angle equal to 55.19o and 22.45o for wet and saturated condition respectively) in comparison to the magnitude at dry condition (at dry condition friction angle equal to 67.83o). Otherwise the effective of increase the moisture content at cohesion is different i. e. the magnitude of cohesion at dry condition was equal to 21.044 kPa. At wet condition the cohesion increased to 12.7% (cohesion equal to 23.71kPa) in comparison to the magnitude at dry condition. At saturated condition the cohesion value will decreased to 54.6% (cohesion equal to 9.54 kPa) in comparison to the magnitude at dry condition.


The description of a new genus of bairdiid ostracod, on the basis of possession of eye tubercles (previously unknown in the group), has been criticized on the grounds that such ocular structures are not a valid criterion for establishing a genus, and for the authors' failure to discuss adequately the phylogenetic implications of a sighted taxon apparently arising from blind ancestors. The latter point particularly refers to Dollo's Law, according to which complex evolutionary traits, once lost, cannot be regained. In response to these criticisms, criteria for sightedness in ostracods are reconsidered, leading to the conclusion that ostracods without eye tubercles are not necessarily blind. A brief review of recent literature (covering vertebrates, invertebrates and plants) demonstrates that Dollo's Law is not inviolable; on the contrary, there appear to be several well-documented examples of the reactivation of dormant genes, allowing the reappearance of 'lost' characters, in some cases after several million years. The implications for the occurrence of rare males in ancient asexual lineages are considered, and it is concluded that the loss of traits such as sightedness and sexual reproduction might not be irreversible.


Perhaps more definitively than any other class of novel Alzheimer's disease (AD) therapy, pre-clinical studies in mouse models of amyloid β (Aβ) deposition have established the disease-modifying potential of anti-Aβ immunotherapy. Despite disappointing results to date from anti-Aβ immunotherapy therapeutic trials, there is continued hope that such immunotherapies, especially if used in the preclinical stages, could prove to be the first disease-modifying therapies available for AD. The general optimism that Aβ-targeting and emerging tau-targeting immunotherapies may prove to be disease modifying is tempered by many unanswered questions regarding these therapeutic approaches, including but not limited to i) lack of precise understanding of mechanisms of action, ii) the factors that regulate antibody exposure in the brain, iii) the optimal target epitope, and iv) the mechanisms underlying side effects. In this review I discuss how answering these and other questions could increase the likelihood of therapeutic success. As passive immunotherapies are also likely to be extremely expensive, I also raise questions relating to cost-benefit of biologic-based therapies for AD that could limit future impact of these therapies by limiting access due to economic constraints.


This paper proposes modifications to the Multi-resolution RASTA (MRASTA) feature extraction technique for the automatic speech recognition (ASR). By emulating asymmetries of the temporal receptive field (TRF) profiles of auditory mid-brain neurons, we obtain more than 13% relative improvement in word error rate on OGI-Digits database. Experiments on TIMIT database confirm that proposed modifications are indeed useful.


Synthetic hormones and bioactive substances (vitamins, pigments and isoflavons) which have been used in the feed industry are accumulated in milk, meat and eggs. It is suspected that these are responsible for a number of side-effects such as carcinogenesis, liver and kidney damage, allergies in consumers. Furthermore the synthetic hormones, vitamins, pigments are less active than those extracted from natural sources. That is why there is a growing worldwide interest in finding new and safe biologically active substances from natural origin. The application of some natural no hormonal products increases the reproductive potential of male and female animals and poultry. These may improve gametogenesis, ovulation and sperm quality. The purpose of this overview is to present some natural sources of biologically active substances and to summarize their positive influence on reproduction in livestock and poultry.


The study aims to analyse the heating and cooling demand of the An Najah university campus, and to optimize the building envelope for selected buildings, in order to achieve energy efficiency, and make use of renewable solar energy. Building and urban simulation programs are used to evaluate the effects of applying different technologies and design strategies on the energy consumption. The university campus hosts 11 university buildings. The proposed methodology makes use of an urban energy modelling tool, called CitySim and Design Builder based on EnergyPlus model to analyse the heating and cooling demand of the university campus and assess the solar potential of the site. The energy calculation considers the hourly heating and cooling demand per building, and for the whole campus. The solar irradiation received by the buildings envelope (walls and roofs) consider the impact of the urban environment, including the inter-reflections between buildings and albedo of the outdoor surfaces. The climatic data provided by Meteonorm. The geometrical information of the campus and selected buildings retrieved by GIS while the physical characteristics of buildings are based on on-site previous studies. The results point to the potential for a significant decrease in energy consumption for cooling and heating.


Thermally unstable polymers such as poly(Me methacrylate) are degraded considerably during industrial processing. This degrdn. and its redn. to a min. were investigated in both lab and continuous pilot-scale expts. A three-step degrdn. mechanism, starting at 180 Deg, was proved by Thermogravimetrical Anal. (TGA) and a kinetic approach to describe it was derived. The knowledge of this degrdn. behavior was then applied to a pilot-scale process with a prodn. rate of 10 kg/h and the process yield loss during the devolatilization step was investigated. Using heat stabilizers, the overall process yield could be improved by 10 %, whereas the residual org. volatiles concn. (VOC) was drastically reduced to values below 1000 ppm. In order to preserve the mol. wt. of the final product these stabilizers were added into the process, sep., at the end of the polymn. reaction but before the devolatilization step.


SbcCD has been shown to cleave a DNA hairpin formed by a palindromic DNA sequence on the lagging strand template of the E. coli chromosome. This activity was exploited to create a unique system for inducing a single site-specific DNA double-strand break (DSB) once per replication cycle. First, this work shows that the SOS response induced by this DSB is only essential for viability following multiple cycles of cleavage and repair. Next, the SOS-inducible inhibitor of cell division SfiA is shown to be dispensable for survival, despite demonstrating that cleavage of the palindrome causes both an increase in cell size and a delay in nucleoid segregation. A model of the E. coli cell cycle is presented to reconcile the observation that growth under chronic DSB induced conditions has no effect on generation time despite causing an increase in cell size. This system of DSB induction was then coupled with fluorescence markers on both sides of the palindrome to visualise the consequence of the DSB in vivo. Cleavage of the DNA hairpin by SbcCD in a recA mutant was used to selectively degrade the chromosome that replicated the palindrome on the lagging strand of replication, allowing two genetically identical sister chromosomes to be distinguished. This approach was used to show that chromosome segregation in E. coli is not random, but results in the segregation of lagging strand replicated DNA to mid-cell and leading strand replicated DNA to cell poles. Finally, this system for visualising the site of an inducible DSB was optimised for use in various other mutant backgrounds to allow the events of DSB repair to be dissected. This work provides a solid basis for further investigation into the relationship between replication, recombination and chromosome segregation in the model organism E. coli.


This study investigated students' successes, strategies, and common errors in their answers to questions that involved the electron-pushing (curved arrow) formalism (EPF), part of organic chemistry's language. We analyzed students' answers to two question types on midterms and final exams: (1) draw the electron-pushing arrows of a reaction step, given the starting materials and products; and (2) draw the products of a reaction step, given the starting materials and electron-pushing arrows. For both question types, students were given unfamiliar reactions. The goal was for students to gain proficiency—or fluency—using and interpreting the EPF. By first becoming fluent, students should have lower cognitive load demands when learning subsequent concepts and reactions, positioning them to learn more deeply. Students did not typically draw reversed or illogical arrows, but there were many other error types. Scores on arrows questions were significantly higher than on products questions. Four factors correlated with lower question scores, including: compounds bearing implicit atoms, intramolecular reactions, assessment year, and the conformation of reactants drawn on the page. We found little evidence of analysis strategies such as expanding or mapping structures. We also found a new error type that we describe as picking up electrons and setting them down on a different atom. These errors revealed the difficulties that arose even before the students had to consider the chemical meaning and implications of the reactions. Herein, we describe our complete findings and suggestions for instruction, including videos that we created to teach the EPF.


"Science cannot stop while ethics catches up," claimed the president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1950. In Who Owns You? The Corporate Gold Rush to Patent Your Genes, the author, philosopher, and legal scholar David Koepsell describes and dissects the tangle that results when science, in the form of wide-scale genomic sequencing, is permitted to proceed without a strict ethical and legal framework. Part primer, part prescription, Koepsell's book offers a portrait of the current state of sequencing technology and the laws that regulate the use and status of its products, then proceeds to interrogate the fundamental validity of our existing system.

It is surprising — not to mention existentially disturbing — to learn that more than 20 percent of the human genome is currently owned by corporations, research institutes, and universities. Even more surprising is that the author claims that these patent systems have been cobbled together in a manner that is largely unmindful of legal precedent or philosophical soundness. Despite the sensationalist title, Koepsell generally steers clear of reactionary recoil, instead providing a measured consideration of the issues that arise at the intersection of intellectual property and human biology.

Beginning with the as-yet ignored basics, the author first deconstructs the relationship between genes and people, deftly highlighting the difficulty in owning and regulating the former without infringing upon the rights of the latter. Next, he sets out a history of patent law and how it traditionally has treated naturally occurring objects and resources, pointing out the discrepancies between these treatments and the management of genetic property rights. Finally, Koepsell evaluates the pragmatic consequences of this regulatory practice and examines our current system to see if it is tenable within the context of scientific progress.

At a time in which science is becoming increasingly rarified, the author presents a refreshingly interdisciplinary treatment of his subject. Difficult concepts in biology, policy, and ethics are each patiently explained, making it a book suitable for readers of diverse backgrounds. The author's own background in philosophy, however, lends the text a syntax and vocabulary that may be unfamiliar — even uncomfortable — to the scientist or doctor. In this sense, the book feels subtextually targeted at legal scholars or philosophers despite its ambitions toward broadness, but Koepsell's obvious passionate belief in the topical importance of this debate maintains the reader's interest.

Who Owns You? is the first long-form, comprehensive treatment of the implications of gene patenting. As such, it deserves much credit for bringing the debate into the public eye, though it's no template for policy change in itself. Perhaps most important is its application of philosophical analysis to bio-policy, an underutilized approach critical to scientific advancement. Koepsell's book serves as a worthy starting point for anyone interested in interconnecting genetics, property law, and philosophy.


A study has been made of the evidence for gender-related systematics in the proposal review processes for the four facilities operated by NRAO: the Jansky Very Large Array (JVLA; hereafter VLA), the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile which is operated by NRAO/AUI in partnership with the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and the National Astronomical Observatories of Japan (NAOJ), in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. A significant gender-related effect is found in the proposal rankings in favor of men over women in the ALMA Proposal Review Processes (PRP) for ALMA Cycles 2-4, with reliability of 99.998% that the underlying rank distributions for male and female PIs are not the same. The effect is largest and most significant for ALMA Cycle 3. A similar overall result is found for the other three NRAO telescopes over proposal Semesters 2012A-2017A, but with lower reliability level overall (98.3%), and with some reversals across semesters in the trend for better performance in the rankings for male PIs. The results align with similar studies recently completed for the HST (Reid 2014) and the ESO proposal review processes (Patat 2016). No correlations are found between the gender-related proposal ranking trends and the gender fractions on review panels. The HST and ESO proposal reviews have come to different conclusions from each other on the role of seniority on the gender-related proposal outcomes at those observatories. The currently available data for the ALMA and NRAO user base do not allow us to investigate the important question of the dependence on the gender-related trends of the seniority of the principal investigators.


Intra-operative MRI (ioMRI) may be used to optimize tumor resection. Utilization of this technology allows for the removal of residual tumor mass following initial tumor removal, maximizing the extent of resection. This, in turn, has been shown to lead to improved outcomes. Individual studies have examined the impact of ioMRI on the rate of extended resection, but a comprehensive review of this topic is needed. A literature review of the MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL, and Google Scholar databases revealed 12 eligible studies. This included 804 primary operations and 238 extended resections based on ioMRI findings. Use of ioMRI led to extended tumor resection in 13.3% - 54.8% of cases (mean 37.3%). Stratification by tumor type showed additional resection occurred, on average, in 39.1% of glioma resections (range 13.3%- 70.0%), 23.5% of pituitary tumor resections (range 13.3%-33.7%), and 35.0% of nonspecific tumor resections (range 17.5%-40%). Tumor type (glioma vs pituitary) did not significantly influence the rate of further excision following ioMRI (p=0.309). There was no difference in secondary resection rate between cases limited to pediatric patients and those including adults (p=0.646). Thus, the use of intra-operative MRI frequently results in further resection of primary tumors, minimizing residual tumor mass. It is primarily used for the resection of gliomas and pituitary tumors. Tumor type does not appear to be a significant contributing factor to the rate of secondary tumor removal. Extended resection may translate into improved clinical outcomes and mortality rates, improving the quality of patient care.


The protection of Offshore Wind Farms (OWF), a critical part of maritime infrastructure, faces new challenges due to the continually increasing share of renewable power generation (planned to reach 65% until 2030 in Germany). This is especially due to the large size of individual OWF (centralized generation units) and new threats such as climate change and their potential as targets for terrorism. It is no longer sufficient to simply optimize the performance of energy generation; the infrastructure also needs to be kept resilient when facing these new threats. To improve resilience, safety and security measures have to be taken into account and therefore safety, security and resilience (SSR) need to be addressed collectively. To this end, SSR goals are identified for a generic OWF by analyzing stakeholder needs and expectations. These goals include not only safe energy generation but also environmental protection, compliance with regulations, hazard defense and security. The SSR goals are classified and detailed in (i) who/what needs protection, (ii) hazards, and (iii) measures with available sensors. A common modeling tool in resilience research, the Functional Resonance Analysis Method (FRAM) is employed to visualize and model interrelations/interactions between SSR goals. The feasibility to model SSR goals as functions and the respective expected variabilities with FRAM are also studied. Further, the possibility to identify critical paths in the FRAM model which allows the introduction of cascade effects is assessed. Critical SSR goals are identified that need further measures to increase the level of fulfillment and to keep the infrastructure protected.


String kernel-based machine learning methods have yielded great success in practical tasks of structured/sequential data analysis. They often exhibit state-of-the-art performance on many practical tasks of sequence analysis such as biological sequence classification, remote homology detection, or protein superfamily and fold prediction. However, typical string kernel methods rely on analysis of discrete one-dimensional (1D) string data (e.g., DNA or amino acid sequences). In this work we address the multi-class biological sequence classification problems using multivariate representations in the form of sequences of features vectors (as in biological sequence profiles, or sequences of individual amino acid physico-chemical descriptors) and a class of multivariate string kernels that exploit these representations. On a number of protein sequence classification tasks proposed multivariate representations and kernels show significant 15-20\% improvements compared to existing state-of-the-art sequence classification methods.