A surround-screen swimming pool can realize various forms of underwater entertainment and enable enhanced swimming training with supplemental visual information during underwater activities. However, one of the big challenges for such an augmented swimming pool is user interaction because the surround screen and water can make existing position-tracking methods unusable. In this paper, we propose a water flow visualization method with transparent tracer particles to enhance interactivity. We used an optical property of clear plastics called birefringence that provides vivid colors on transparent tracer particles when they are between two circular polarization sheets. Tracing objects using cameras in front of a complex background is not a stable method, but this technology enables visible tracer particles on a simple and dark background. For underwater entertainment, the water flow tracing works as a user interface because the transparent tracer particles do not stop users from viewing the images on the screen. For enhanced swimming training, swimmers can view visualized water flow caused by strokes in the augmented swimming pool. From the results of our stability evaluation of water flow tracing, the proposed method is valid even for complex backgrounds. We also conducted a feasibility test of the enhanced swimming training. According to the trial, the tracing particles could visualize the water flow caused by the strokes made by a swimmer.


1. Introduction A prominent issue that has dominated the enterprise of African philosophy since its inception in the written form is the question of how to define African identity (Owolabi 1999:22). Most intellectual discussions in African philosophy are reactions to this problem of identity. Two things are largely responsible for this search for African identity. One is the negative impact of the colonial experience of domination and exploitation in Africa. The second is the ethnocentric assertion of Western scholarship to the denigration of anything that is African. At the base of that Western intellectual discourse is the Hegelian claim that: Africa "is no historical part of the World; it has no movement or development to exhibit. Historical movements in it--that is in its northern part--belong to the Asiatic or European World.... Africa is the Unhistorical, Undeveloped Spirit, still involved in the conditions of mere nature, and which had to be presented here only as on the threshold of the World's History (Hegel 1956:99). Hegel is not alone in this epistemic ethnocentrism (Mudimpe 1988); the anthropological claims of Durkheim (1912), Frazer (1922), Levy-Bruhl (1949) and Horton (1981) also support the ethnocentric, racist and imperialist claim that rationality is prerogative of Western civilization while the Africans are mentally primitive. The significant role played by Western scholarship and erstwhile Western imperial lords in presenting and treating the African people as inferior and deserving of external control, necessitates that African scholarship in postcolonial era, should be active in the deconstruction of this negative and battered identity (Balogun 2007:1). In this quest for African self-identity and self-definition, two orientations are dominant. The first affirms the cultural pluralism of Western scholarship, but denies the hierarchy of cultures (Owolabi 1999:24). This first orientation is preoccupied with the discovery of authentic and unique African identity by insisting on particulars--their own previously un-respected and neglected particularities. Scholars like Abraham (1966), Mbiti (1969), Sodipo (1975), Anyanwu (1983), Tempels (1959) and Senghor (1991) who are in this category have sympathy for the orientation in African philosophy, which emphasizes the peculiarities of African culture. To these scholars, all philosophies are cultural philosophies and no philosophical datum of any given culture is applicable to other cultures. Within this orientation, the ethno philosophers, the defenders of negritude and other cultural nationalists can be categorized. The second reaction to the crisis of self-identity within African scholarship denies cultural relativism and ethnocentrism maintained by Western anthropological scholarship. The argument is that though certain aspects of societal cultures are different, human cultures still share certain fundamental traits that allow for cross-cultural comparisons and interactions (Owolabi 1999:24). Hence, Bodunrin (1985), Hountondji (1983), Appiah (1992), Towa (1991) and Wiredu (1980) who are members of this orientation insist on cultural universalism. From the above dominant orientations in the quest for African self-identity, the general deducible impression is that there is a dichotomy and incompatibility between the perspectives of African scholars on cultural universalism and particularism as related to the quest for an identity. This paper aims at philosophically discussing, the issues of universalism and particularism in human culture, especially in relation to African's search for self-definition. In doing this, however, an attempt is made to examine critically Wiredu's perspectives and contributions to the discourse. The following questions shall guide our discussions in the paper: Are there cultural universals? Is there any scheme of concepts, which can be shared by all the cultures of humankind? …


The flexible nature of the cable bundles in the sizeable cable-in-conduit-conductors for ITER containing more than a thousand strands, in combination with a void fraction of around 30%, gives scope for significant cable compression and strand deflection. In particular, the transverse stiffness of the Nb3Sn type of cabled superconductors, being subjected to large electromagnetic forces, is critical for their long-term performance considering the impact of the strain variation on the transport properties. What is more, the compression of the cable bundle under load and the permanent deformation and relaxation in time or that associated with quenches, have an effect on the cooling and pressure drop along the turns of the windings and are valuable to account for in large magnets such as for ITER. The electromagnetic AC losses of ITER Nb3Sn and NbTi CICCs, related to changing magnetic field and in this manner important for their stability, were broadly studied and reported but the associated mechanical losses have received less attention so far. The lifetime characteristics in terms of cable compression, changes in transverse stiffness and mechanical losses are experimentally determined on several prototype ITER NbTi and Nb3Sn conductors in the Twente press and a summary of the results is given. The nonlinear stress–strain characteristics of the cable bundle and its moderate time-dependent nature can be considered as a viscoelastic–plastic phenomenon. The evolution of the stiffness and the mechanical loss depends on the peak load, void fraction, strand type and strand coating and changes with the number of load cycles. The dissipated heat from mechanical energy is not a critical issue for ITER magnet operation but is not negligible, in particular in the case of NbTi conductors.


During 1950 and 1951 I observed a linkage-like association between a chromosome III and three chromosome V markers in a laboratory stock of the house mouse. Towards the end of 1951 Dr Donald Michie's theory of centromere attraction was communicated to me privately. He proposed it as a possible explanation of a similar anomaly observed by several workers in hybrids from subspecific crosses, suggesting that, in such hybrids, the paternal and maternal centromeres tend to segregate to opposite poles at the first meiotic division. It appeared reasonable to suppose that centromere differences are permanent, and that the anomaly I had observed in laboratory mice may be due to the non-random segregation of such differentiated centromeres. The term 'affinity' was coined for the new phenomenon. I found further cases of quasi-linkage in data from experiments designed for other purposes, and set up two series of experiments to test the hypothesis of affinity. One of these was designed to discover whether the association between markers in linkage groups III and V can be explained on this basis, and, if so, to produce data from which the position of the centromere in chromosome may be found. The design of this investigation and the analysis of its results are given here. The data are found to agree well with an affinity interpretation, and to disagree with other interpretations such as viability interaction, chromosomal linkage, and translocation. A map showing the position of the centromere in chromosome V in relation to its markers is constructed from these data and this is discussed in the light of the evidence for centromere position available from multiple linkage backcross data. These two types of data agree remarkably well when their inherent defects and the simplicity of the assumptions made are taken into account; but it is still desirable to obtain further evidence that the point in linkage group V responsible for its association with linkage group III is in fact the centromere. None the less, it may be said that the experiment herein described provides very striking evidence for the existence of a new phenomenon involving nonrandom segregation of unlinked markers, and that affinity appears to be the best interpretation. The theory of affinity is elaborated with special reference to the manipulation of genetic material, and to the use of affinity data of various kinds in the mapping of the centromere. An account is given of a process for obtaining metrical maps consistent both with affinity data and with data on linkage and interference, and such a map is obtained for chromosome V.


In his latest book, Dr Peter Elmer grapples with two of the thorniest, and most enduring, questions in the study of witchcraft and witch-hunting: How might we account for fluctuations in the number of witch-craft prosecutions? And what explains the eventual demise of witchcraft prosecutions (in England, at least) by the end of the 17th century? In doing so, Elmer follows in the footsteps of some of the most eminent historians of early modern English history. In the early 1970s, both Keith Thomas and Alan Macfarlane published works which attempted to explain surges in witchcraft prosecutions with reference to the political and religious structures of early modern society.(1) Since then, numerous others have followed, perhaps most saliently for this book, the work of Brian Levack on the connection between witchcraft prosecution and political state building and Malcolm Gaskill's comments on the relationship (or lack thereof) between puritanism and witch-hunting.(2) Indeed, the quantity of existing literature is such that readers could be forgiven for wondering whether it is in fact possible to write anything truly new on the subject. That Elmer produces a text that engages closely with these earlier works while still presenting a largely original central thesis is a testament to the power of the highly detailed local case studies that undergird this work.


The basal fungal order Mortierellales constitutes one of the largest orders in the basal lineages. This group consists of one family and six genera. Most species are saprobic soil inhabiting fungi with the ability of diverse biotransformations or the accumulation of unsaturated fatty acids, making them attractive for biotechnological applications. Only few studies exist aiming at the revelation of the evolutionary relationships of this interesting fungal group. This study includes the largest dataset of LSU and ITS sequences for more than 400 specimens containing 63 type or reference strains. Based on a LSU phylogram, fungal groups were defined and evaluated using ITS sequences and morphological features. Traditional morphology-based classification schemes were rejected, because the morphology of the Mortierellales seems to depend on culture conditions, a fact, which makes the identification of synapomorphic characters tedious. This study belongs to the most comprehensive molecular phylogenetic analyses for the Mortierellales up to date and reveals unresolved species and species complexes.


Abram Bergson has been making significant contributions to economic theory since the 1930s, and this selection of fifteen of his most influential essays exhibits in large part the breadth of his range. The book's primary focus, however, is on those aspects of economic theory to which he has given sustained attention over the whole course of his career: welfare and socialist economics. Part I, Social Welfare and the Economic Optimum, presents the author's seminal early article on the concept of social welfare and two additional essays on the relation of social choice theory to welfare economics and on the import of taste differences for optimal income distribution. In Part II, Problems of Measurement, the critique of Frisch's methods of marginal utility measurement that has become a classic is followed by three essays on consumer's surplus analysis, including the frequently cited paper on monopoly welfare losses. A final paper elaborates for factor productivity calculation the index number theory that was developed by Moorsteen and the author for output measurement. In Part III, Public Enterprise and Socialist Economics, two surveys of the theory of socialist economics that are standard references in the field are followed by an essay on the politics of socialist efficiency and by two studies of public enterprise, one on optimal pricing and the other on managerial riskbearing. Finally, Part IV, Prices, Income, and Employment, consists of two papers that represent an early effort to integrate macro- and microeconomics, a matter that has since become of wide interest.


The present study contrasted caffeine's effects on individuals who expect caffeine to stimulate them and those who do not. Secondly, whether a message that caffeine rather than placebo was administered would also affect these two groups of subjects differently was investigated. The study was conducted single‐blind in a 2 × 2 × 2 mixed design. The between subjects factor was whether they expected caffeine to stimulate them (E+) or not (E−) according to their self reports obtained before the experiment began. The within subjects factors were message (told caffeine vs told placebo) and beverage type (given caffeine vs placebo). Sixteen subjects in each group (n=32) performed on signal detection, memory scanning and delayed free recall tasks following ingestion of either caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee on two sessions each, a total of four experimental sessions. On each session, subjects were given a message regarding their drink (told caffeine vs told placebo). However, on two sessions there was a mismatch between the message and drink given. For signal detection, performance under caffeine was better than placebo in the E+ but not the E− group. However, subjects in the E+ group did not benefit more than the E− group in either message condition. On memory scanning, detections and false alarms did not differ for either beverage, nor was there a differential finding in the E+ and E− groups. However, reaction time under caffeine condition was shorter. No effects of message were found. Caffeine and message also did not have any effect on performance on the delayed free recall task. The hypothesis that caffeine and message would affect E+ and E− subjects differentially was partly supported. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


How chartered company-states spearheaded European expansion and helped create the world's first genuinely global order From Spanish conquistadors to British colonialists, the prevailing story of European empire-building has focused on the rival ambitions of competing states. But as Outsourcing Empire shows, from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries, company-states-not sovereign states-drove European expansion, building the world's first genuinely international system. Company-states were hybrid ventures: pioneering multinational trading firms run for profit, with founding charters that granted them sovereign powers of war, peace, and rule. Those like the English and Dutch East India Companies carved out corporate empires in Asia, while other company-states pushed forward European expansion through North America, Africa, and the South Pacific. In this comparative exploration, Andrew Phillips and J. C. Sharman explain the rise and fall of company-states, why some succeeded while others failed, and their role as vanguards of capitalism and imperialism. In dealing with alien civilizations to the East and West, Europeans relied primarily on company-states to mediate geographic and cultural distances in trade and diplomacy. Emerging as improvised solutions to bridge the gap between European rulers' expansive geopolitical ambitions and their scarce means, company-states succeeded best where they could balance the twin imperatives of power and profit. Yet as European states strengthened from the late eighteenth century onward, and a sense of separate public and private spheres grew, the company-states lost their usefulness and legitimacy. Bringing a fresh understanding to the ways cross-cultural relations were handled across the oceans, Outsourcing Empire examines the significance of company-states as key progenitors of the globalized world.


We study the combined effect of growth (material deposition from above) and nearest-neighbor entropic and force-dipole interactions in a stochastically perturbed system of N line defects (steps) on a vicinal crystal surface in 1+1 dimensions. First, we formulate a general model of conservative white noise, and we derive simplified formulas for the terrace width distribution (TWD) and pair correlations, particularly the covariance matrix of terrace widths, in the limit N → ∞ for small step fluctuations. Second, we apply our formalism to two specific noise models which stem, respectively, from: (i) the fluctuation-dissipation theorem for diffusion of adsorbed atoms; and (ii) the phenomenological consideration of deposition-fluxinduced asymmetric attachment and detachment of atoms at step edges. We discuss implications of our analysis, particularly the narrowing of the TWD with the deposition flux, connection of noise structure to terrace width correlations, behavior of these correlations in the macroscopic limit, and comparison of our perturbation results to a known mean field approach. PACS numbers: 81.15.Aa, 05.10.Gg, 68.35.-p, 05.40.-a, 68.43.Jk


Edge processing for computer vision systems enable incorporating visual intelligence to mobile robotics platforms. Demand for low power, low cost and small form factor devices are on the rise.This work proposes a unified platform to generate deep learning models compatible on edge devices from Intel, NVIDIA and XaLogic. The platform enables users to create custom data annotations,train neural networks and generate edge compatible inference models. As a testimony to the tools ease of use and flexibility, we explore two use cases — vision powered prosthetic hand and drone vision. Neural network models for these use cases will be built using the proposed pipeline and will be open-sourced. Online and offline versions of the tool and corresponding inference modules for edge devices will also be made public for users to create custom computer vision use cases.


Background: Epigenetic alterations occurring during pregnancy have recently emerged as important factors for developmental programming of the fetus leading to obesity-related diseases in children. However, the role of excess body weight (EBW) in the modification of epigenetic patterns or its health consequences during child-bearing age is largely unknown. Because a lower degree of DNA methylation of long interspersed nucleotide element-1 (LINE-1) in PBMCs was shown to be associated with a higher risk of developing obesity-related diseases, for example cancer, the purpose of this study was to (1) evaluate the influence of indicators of obesity (BMI, WC, and % body fat) on PBMC LINE-1 methylation, (2) determine the predictors of PBMC LINE-1 methylation, and (3) determine the influence of PBMC LINE-1 methylation on biomarkers of obesity-related diseases. Methods: The study population consisted of 470 child-bearing age women. We quantified the degree of PBMC LINE-1 methylation by pyrosequencing. Folate concentrations were measured using a microbiological assay. The degree of LINE-1 methylation (> median vs. ≤ median) was the dependent variable in logistic models that specified BMI (>25 vs. ≤ 25), WC (>88 cm vs. ≤ 88 cm), or % body fat (>33% vs. ≤ 33%) separately as the independent predictors of primary interest, adjusting for other relevant variables. The predictors and determinants of lower LINE-1 methylation were evaluated among women with EBW. Results: Women with higher BMI, WC, or % body fat were 2.0, 1.9, and 1.8 times more likely to have lower LINE-1 methylation, respectively (P = 0.003, 0.005, and 0.01). The predictors and determinants of lower LINE-1 methylation yielded similar patterns with all three indicators of obesity. The following results are based on models run with BMI as the indicator for EBW. Women with higher plasma folate concentrations were less likely to have lower LINE-1 methylation (OR = 0.54, P = 0.0009). Higher LINE-1 methylation was associated with lower insulin resistance as indicated by HOMA (OR = 0.50, P = 0.02). Conclusions: EBW-associated lower LINE-1 methylation in women of child-bearing age appears to have significant, and potentially transgenerational, health consequences. Higher folate status may exert beneficial effects on obesity-related health outcomes.


The purpose of this study was to 1) compare the effects of single sessions of eccentric (ECC) and concentric (CON) contractions, and 2) determine the effects of 12 wks of ECC and CON resistance training (RT) on parameters of metabolic health. Thirty sedentary and obese individuals were randomly assigned to complete a single session of either CON (n=15) or ECC (n=15) resistance exercise consisting of 3 sets of 10 repetitions of bilateral leg extension and leg curl at 75% of CON or ECC one repetition maximum (1RMCON/1RMECC). Outcome measures were assessed at baseline (0 h) and 1, 24, 48, and 72 h post-exercise. Twenty-five of the 30 subjects also completed 12 wks of CON (n=13) or ECC (n=12) RT. Training consisted of wholebody RT 3-4 d/wk at 60-75% of 1RMCON or 1RMECC. Outcome measures were assessed preand post-training. The single session of ECC exercise produced significantly greater muscle degradation than CON exercise. The single session of exercise significantly reduced plasma TG and lipoproteins; however, there were no differences in these reductions between groups. No significant differences were found for plasma cytokines, glucose, or insulin. RT resulted in significant reductions in body fat%, waist circumference, diastolic blood pressure, and mid-thigh adipose tissue (AT) and significant increases in muscular strength, lean body mass, and midthigh totaland high density-muscle with no significant group differences. There were no significant changes in abdominal AT, plasma TG, lipoproteins, cytokines, glucose, or insulin following RT. Although a single session of ECC contractions resulted in greater skeletal muscle degradation than CON, the effects on plasma metabolic variables were similar in the two groups. Both CON and ECC RT produce beneficial alterations in metabolic health.


BACKGROUND
Fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEEs) are nonoxidative ethanol metabolites that have been implicated as mediators of alcohol-induced organ damage. FAEEs are detectable in the blood after ethanol ingestion, and on that basis have been proposed as markers of ethanol intake. Because blood is not always available at autopsy, in this study we quantified FAEEs in human liver and adipose tissue as potential postmortem markers of premortem ethanol intake.

METHODS
Twenty-four sets of samples were collected at the Massachusetts State Medical Examiner's Office, and 7 sets of samples were obtained from the Pathology Department of Massachusetts General Hospital. Samples of liver and adipose tissue were collected at autopsy, and FAEEs were isolated and quantified from these organs as mass per gram of wet weight. Postmortem analysis of blood involved assessment for ethanol and other drugs.

RESULTS
The study shows a substantial difference in FAEE concentrations in liver and adipose tissue of patients with detectable blood ethanol at the time of autopsy vs those with no detectable blood ethanol, who were either chronic alcoholics or social drinkers. In addition, a specific FAEE, ethyl arachidonate, was found at concentrations >200 pmol/g almost exclusively in the liver and adipose tissue of individuals with detectable blood ethanol at the time of death, providing an additional FAEE-related marker for prior ethanol intake.

CONCLUSIONS
The mass of FAEEs in liver and adipose tissue and the presence of ethyl arachidonate can serve as postmortem markers of premortem ethanol intake when no blood sample can be obtained.


MODERN HISTORY AND POLITICS: Negotiating for the Past: Archeology, Nationalism, and Diplomacy in the Middle East, 1919-1941, by James F. Goode. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2007. xii + 233 pages. Notes to p. 265. Bibl. to p. 208. Index to p. 293. $55 cloth; $22.95 paper. Reviewed by James Jankowski Neither the story of Western archeological activity in the Middle East in the interwar period, nor the history of increasingly assertive local nationalist sentiment over the same period, is unexplored territory. This valuable study reexamines both topics on a comparative basis by considering archeology and nationalism, as well as diplomacy as an adjunct to the former, in four Middle Eastern countries (Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq). The detailed analysis of the often fraught relationship between archeologists and nationalists makes for an original and stimulating read, one with implications beyond the historical era under consideration. The work is extraordinarily well researched and documented. The documentation is richest on the archeological side. The author has mined, with great effect, the papers of many of the leading Western archeologists of the period as well as the archives of numerous museums, institutes, and universities involved in sponsoring archeological expeditions. While American archeological endeavors receive the greatest attention, the activities of other Western countries and archeologists are also considered. He has also conducted less extensive but nonetheless substantial research in the nationalist press of the four countries involved and in the memoirs of nationalist spokesmen of the period. The result is a comparative study of unusual depth. The work's central thesis is that, in the contest for the control of both archeological sites and the artifacts discovered therein, the 1920s and 1930s witnessed a process of the assertion of indigenous control of archeological activity and artifacts. Through the establishment and/or strengthening of departments of antiquity, the closing of export loopholes, and the closer supervision of archeological projects, the indigenous domination of the handling of their national heritages being demanded by nationalist spokesmen and movements in Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq was gradually achieved. The process was neither an uncontested nor a totally successful one; often aided by their diplomatic representatives, Western archeologists and institutions operating in the Middle East offered persistent and sometimes effective resistance to the restriction of their freedom of operation and export. …


The spread of invasive plant species in natural habitats has become a worldwide problem with negative impacts. Phalaris arundinacea , an important forage and ornamental crop, is widespread worldwide. In recent years there has been a massive spread of P. arundinacea across North America and Canada. Production of Phalaris seed as a forage crop occurs in northern Minnesota; seeds are sold throughout the world, particularly in central Europe. We tested genetic similarities and differences between populations in the US (Minnesota) and the Czech Republic using ISSRs to determine potential gene flow for this forage crop. The cultivated forage and wild genotypes were dispersed into two groups that overlapped. At least four sets of wild US genotypes are dissimilar to European counterparts and potentially native to N. America. Future work to prove the ancestry of each accession will be necessary. Nonetheless, the sale of forage cultivars related to or derived from European types causes genetic mixing with N. American types. Part of this intercontinental gene flow is exacerbated by the production of Phalaris forage seed in Minnesota. The implications of these findings for management of invasive crops native to both continents are significant for forage producers, managers, and breeders.


Hypertension and hypercholesterolemia frequently coexist and may require concomitant drug treatments. The efficacy and safety profile of lovastatin given in the presence of antihypertensive medication was evaluated using patient subgroups identified in the Expanded Clinical Evaluation of Lovastatin (EXCEL) Study. The EXCEL study examined 8,245 patients with moderate hypercholesterolemia randomly assigned either to a group treated with lovastatin (20-80 mg daily) or to a group given placebo for 48 weeks. After adjustment for patient characteristics, pairwise comparisons were made between patients taking no antihypertensive agents (n = 3,772) and those taking either calcium antagonists (n = 446), selective beta 1-adrenergic receptor blockers (n = 326), nonselective beta-adrenergic receptor blockers (n = 219), potassium-sparing diuretics (n = 187), thiazide diuretics (n = 126), or angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (n = 171). The placebo-corrected dose-dependent effect of lovastatin on the percent change from baseline in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol was not attenuated in any subgroup and was slightly enhanced in the calcium antagonist subgroup (-29% to -44%, p = 0.06) when compared with patients taking no antihypertensive agents (-24% to -40%); this difference, however, was only of borderline significance. Patterns of lovastatin-induced increase in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and decrease in triglycerides were not consistently different among the subgroups. Examination of mean changes in serum transaminases, mean changes in creatine kinase, and the proportion of patients discontinuing therapy for clinical adverse experiences did not indicate the presence of an interaction.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


BACKGROUND
Dermatoglyphic traits have been shown to be genetically determined, conservative in their evolution, and different between and within population groups. There have been a few reports dealing with Southern African populations, but there appears to be no published report for indigenous black Zimbabweans.

MATERIAL/METHODS
Bilateral palmar and digital prints of 270 indigenous black Zimbabweans were recorded, studied and classified using standard methods. The total finger ridge count (TFRC), pattern intensity index (PII), atd angle, and a-b ridge counts were analyzed and the data compared with those of Malawians, South African Zulus and Nigerian Yorubas.

RESULTS
Ulnar loops were the most predominant digital pattern type in both sexes followed by whorls in males and arches in females. Females had significantly higher atd angles than males (p<0.01). Significant differences were also demonstrated between Zimbabwean and Malawian females, and between Zimbabwean and Yoruba men in TFRC and a-b ridge counts. Similarly significant differences were observed between Zimbabwean and Malawian males, male Zimbabweans and Yoruba, and male Zulus and Yorubas in atd angle and a-b ridge counts (p<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS
This study documents similarities in digital ridge patterns between Zimbabweans, Malawians, and to some extent South African Zulus, indicating their close historical and anthropological relationship. However, Zimbabweans could be differentiated from the other population groups using certain dermatoglyphic traits. Nevertheless, all the groups showed some features common to other black Africans.


Background: The mechanism of hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction (HPV) is still debatable. It has been proposed that reactive oxygen species (ROS) might be involved in HPV. However, there is no special transporter for superoxide anion in the cell membrane and it may release from the cells via anion exchanger. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the interaction of ROS and anion exchanger in acute HPV. Methods: The present study was performed in the isolated rabbit lung. After preparation, the lungs were divided into four hypoxic groups of control, Trolox (antioxidant)-treated, 4,4'-diisothiocyanatostilbene-2,2'-disulfonic acid (DIDS, anion exchanger inhibitor)-treated, and Trolox+DIDS-treated. Pulmonary artery pressure, left atrial pressure, and lung weight were continuously registered and PVR was then calculated. PO2, PCO2, HCO3-, pH, and NO metabolites of the perfusate were measured during steady-state and at the end of experiments (30 minutes). All data were compared with ANOVA and t-test and significance was considered when P<0.05. Results: Ventilation of the lungs with hypoxic gas induced HPV in the control group. DIDS did not have a further effect on HPV compared with the control group. The combination of Trolox and DIDS decreased HPV rather than Trolox per se at 5 minutes. Furthermore, HPV was abolished in both the Trolox and Trolox+DIDS groups at 30 minutes. Concentrations of NO metabolites in the Trolox+DIDS group were more than other groups. Conclusion: The present study indicates a possible interaction between ROS and anion exchanger in acute HPV. It also suggests the modulatory effect of NO at above condition.


We propose a novel cost aggregation network, called Cost Aggregation Transformers (CATs), to find dense correspondences between semantically similar images with additional challenges posed by large intra-class appearance and geometric variations. Cost aggregation is a highly important process in matching tasks, which the matching accuracy depends on the quality of its output. Compared to hand-crafted or CNN-based methods addressing the cost aggregation, in that either lacks robustness to severe deformations or inherit the limitation of CNNs that fail to discriminate incorrect matches due to limited receptive fields, CATs explore global consensus among initial correlation map with the help of some architectural designs that allow us to fully leverage self-attention mechanism. Specifically, we include appearance affinity modeling to aid the cost aggregation process in order to disambiguate the noisy initial correlation maps and propose multi-level aggregation to efficiently capture different semantics from hierarchical feature representations. We then combine with swapping self-attention technique and residual connections not only to enforce consistent matching but also to ease the learning process, which we find that these result in an apparent performance boost. We conduct experiments to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model over the latest methods and provide extensive ablation studies. Project page is available at : https://sunghwanhong.github.io/CATs/.


The remote-procedure-call abstraction, including its derivates (underlying, for example, Java RMI, CORBA, and .NET), currently represents one of the most popular paradigms for devising distributed applications. Objects (when acting as servers) are invoked remotely (by clients) through proxies (also called stubs). Because proxies offer the same interfaces as their respective associated remote objects, they hide distribution details, leading to a convenient distributed-programming style that enforces type safety and encapsulation. However, RPC-style interaction does not apply equally well in all contexts. In its classic form, it tends to strongly synchronize-and hence couple-the invoking and invoked objects. Several proposed asynchronous variants of RPC illustrate the severity of this drawback. Type-based publish-subscribe is an appealing candidate programming abstraction for inherently decoupled and completely decentralized applications that run over large-scale and mobile networks. Like RPC, TPS enforces type safety and encapsulation; unlike RPC, it provides decoupling and scalability. To illustrate, we discuss two TPS implementations in Java.


This work compared the activity patterns and diet of a group of Alouatta belzebul in areas of logged and unlogged forest in eastern Amazonia. An instantaneous scan sampling procedure was used for the behavioral study (9.3 ± 1.9 complete observation days/month) from February to November 2000. Fruit availability was estimated monthly. Activity budgets were not significantly different between sites. Rest was the predominant activity in both sites (53.6 % and 48.7 %, respectively). Average daily path length was 683.5 ± 215.1 m (n = 93), and the home range was 17.8 ha, including 7 ha in unlogged forest and 10.8 ha in the logged forest. Neither fruit availability nor diet varied significantly between sites. The diet was predominantly folivorous (43.4 % and 46.6 % in unlogged and logged forest, respectively) and frugivorous (43.9 % and 42.8 %). The spatial use by the group was positively related to fruit sources. This study documented the ability of a ranging group of A. belzebul to survive in a habitat influenced by reduced impact logging without dramatically influencing its activity patterns and diet.


Purpose. To determine the polar lipid composition of human meibomian gland secretions and their relationship to the preocular tear film. Methods. Meibomian secretions were collected from normals and patients with chronic blepharitis. These lipids (meibum) were first separated by thin layer chromatography. Polar lipids were then separated utilizing high-pressure liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection. Individual peaks were identified by comparison with standards. Collected sample peaks were subjected to differential transmethylation with sodium methoxide-methanol and the resulting fatty acid methyl esters were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy. Results. Three phospholipids were identified as phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine and sphingomyelin; other unidentified phospholipids were also present. Also present in secretions were the sphingolipids ceramides and cerebrosides. Fatty acids present were 12-18 carbon chain length. All fatty acids were normal (not branched) saturated fatty acids except in sphingolipids, where hydroxy fatty acids were also present. Unsaturated normal fatty acids were present only in meibum from patients with meibomianitis. Conclusions. The composition of the polar lipids in meibomian gland secretions is more complex than previously thought. On the other hand, the type and carbon chain length of the polar lipid fatty acids appears strictly controlled. The relationship of these findings to the preocular tear film should be considered in terms of overall functionality. The polar lipid layer most likely is only one to three molecules thick and serves as a surfactant between aqueous tears and the thicker nonpolar lipid layer.


Pilot-scale experiments were conducted to investigate removal of Cryptosporidium parvum by contact granular filtration. The research demonstrated enhanced removal of Cryptosporidium parvum in the presence of kaolin particles. This is believed to be due electrostatic adhesion of Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts to the kaolin clay particles. The elementary physico-chemical interactions between filter granules and suspension particles will be discussed. This innovative concept was successfully implemented to reduce the ripening sequence of subsequent filtration experimental test runs by the addition of large surface area particles to slurry of kaolin and Cryptosporidium parvum in surface water.


Real-world data management applications generally manage temporal data, i.e., they manage multiple states of time-varying data. Many contributions have been made by the research community for how to better model, store, and query temporal data. In particular, several dozen temporal data models and query languages have been proposed. Motivated in part by the emergence of non-traditional data management applications and the increasing proliferation of temporal data, this paper puts focus on the aggregation of temporal data. In particular, it provides a general framework of temporal aggregation concepts, and it discusses the abilities of five approaches to the design of temporal query languages with respect to temporal aggregation. Rather than providing focused, polished results, the paper's aim, is to explore the inherent support for temporal aggregation in an informal manner that may serve as a foundation for further exploration


SUMMARY 1. The 24 h urinary excretion of free cortisol and aldosterone-l8-glucuronide has been studied in twenty-three control and twenty-three grossly obese subjects by a double-isotope-dilution derivative method. 2. Day-night variation of plasma and urinary cortisol has also been investigated. 3. The mean absolute steroid values were similar for the obese and non-obese subjects. 4. The 24 h urinary values for free cortisol expressed as pg/kg of body weight were significantly higher for the controls. 5. The majority of the obese and control subjects had a day-night variation of plasma cortisol. All subjects, with two exceptions, showed day-night variation of free cortisol in the urine. 6. It is suggested that the estimation of unconjugated cortisol in timed urinary collections could be useful for investigations of adrenocortical function. 7. The findings do not support the presence of increased adrenocortical activity in developed obesity.


There are various modes with which research-intensive firms can develop or acquire technologies, including internal R&D, technology licensing, cooperative R&D, minority investments in other firms, and acquisitions of other firms. This paper attempts to present a model that explains the key determinants of technology development and acquisition modes. It is theorised that time pressure and the strategic importance of the technology are the key factors that affect technology development and acquisition modes. In addition, a firm needs to consider the availability of an alliance partner or an acquisition target as well as internal resources including capital or the price of its own equity, and internal R&D capability. It is also suggested that as the strategic importance of the technology or time pressure to develop or acquire such technology changes, a firm needs to shift technology acquisition modes. Thus, the presented model incorporates the dynamic nature of competition in research-intensive industries.


n n @ n We used results from 120 group interviews collected in 1998 to quantify how inhabitants across northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia perceive and rank various risks to their livelihoods. We also mapped risk patterns using Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates. Respondents recognized 15 sources of risk overall, with the most common being reliable access to food and water. Other risks were not mentioned by a majority of respondents and reflected diversity in local situations. Country of residence, wealth class, gender, and predominant means of food production (pastoralism, agro-pastoralism, and farming) influenced risk ranking. For example, wealthy males were most concerned about resource access and livestock prices. Women and the poor were more concerned about access to health services and education and reducing conflict. Risk maps are shown to be useful tools to display patterns of conflict, drought, and related phenomena. Because local problems vary, local solutions to improve risk management will be similarly variable. Participatory approaches clarify local development priorities. Recognition that factors such as wealth and gender will strongly affect risk management priorities should lead to more appropriate and fine-tuned development initiatives. Risk Mapping for Northern Kenya and Southern Ethiopia


Gender inequality is a major contributor to men who have sex with mens (MSM) vulnerability to HIV. Understanding the gender dynamics of MSM as well as their specific sexual identity issues and concerns is important for delivering effective HIV services. This case study (one of nine in a series) describes how an NGO in Russia created an MSM-supportive environment and provided free access to HIV services through its "Follow the Voice of Life" program. Developed with the active participation of MSM this community-based program offers a range of peer services and professional psychological counseling and support.


Systematically discovering semantic relationships in text is an important and extensively studied area in Natural Language Processing, with various tasks such as entailment, semantic similarity, etc. Decomposability of sentence-level scores via subsequence alignments has been proposed as a way to make models more interpretable. We study the problem of aligning components of sentences leading to an interpretable model for semantic textual similarity. In this paper, we introduce a novel pointer network based model with a sentinel gating function to align constituent chunks, which are represented using BERT. We improve this base model with a loss function to equally penalize misalignments in both sentences, ensuring the alignments are bidirectional. Finally, to guide the network with structured external knowledge, we introduce first-order logic constraints based on ConceptNet and syntactic knowledge. The model achieves an F1 score of 97.73 and 96.32 on the benchmark SemEval datasets for the chunk alignment task, showing large improvements over the existing solutions. Source code is available at https://github.com/manishb89/interpretable_sentence_similarity


At the end of the U.S Civil War, veterans had to choose whether to return to their prewar communities or move to new areas. The late 19th Century was a time of sharp urban growth as workers sought out the economic opportunities offered by cities. By estimating discrete choice migration models, we quantify the tradeoffs that veterans faced. Veterans were less likely to move far from their origin and avoided urban immigrant areas and high mortality risk areas. They also avoided areas that opposed the Civil War. Veterans were more likely to move to a neighborhood or a county where men from their same war company lived. This co-location evidence highlights the existence of persistent social networks. Such social networks had long-term consequences: veterans living close to war time friends enjoyed a longer life.


Abstract The current political climate in the UK is arguably more conducive to associationalism than previous regimes. This paper engages with Paul Hirst's work, focusing in particular on the legal and regulatory conditions that would need to be in place to support a transition towards associative democracy. The social economy is the obvious vehicle for associational reform. However, an analysis of the legal and regulatory forms associated with the social economy in the UK indicates that the current framework will not easily facilitate transition. The analysis opens up challenging questions for how to regulate the democratic element of associative democracy.


The upper Cenozoic deposits in Fisher Valley, Utah, record a long history of deposition, deformation, and geomorphic changes related to movement of the Onion Creek salt diapir. Apparently, several pulses of salt flowed into the diapir between about 2–3 and 0.25 m.y. ago, and the diapir may still be active. Fisher Creek once headed in the igneous rocks of the La Sal Mountains and flowed along the present course of Onion Creek to the Colorado River. The rising salt diapir impeded the flow of ancestral Fisher Creek, causing deposition of more than 125 m of basin-fill sediments, and eventually diverted the creek down Cottonwood graben to the Dolores River about 0.25 m.y. ago. Onion Creek has eroded headward from the Colorado River, through both the diapir and the basin-fill sediments, and is about to capture Fisher Creek, restoring the original drainage course.


Abstract—This study quantifies a decrement in freeway capacity during rainfall. Traffic and rainfall data were gathered from Highway Agencies and Wunderground weather service. Three inter-urban freeway sections and its nearest weather stations were selected as experimental sites. Capacity analysis found reductions of maximum and mean pre-breakdown flow rates due to rainfall. The Kruskal-Wallis test also provided some evidence to suggest that the variance in the pre-breakdown flow rate is statistically insignificant. Potential application of this study lies in the operation of real time traffic management schemes such as Variable Speed Limits (VSL), Hard Shoulder Running (HSR), and Ramp Metering System (RMS), where speed or flow limits could be set based on a number of factors, including rainfall events and their intensities.


This panel is one of two sessions organized by the AoIR Ethics Working Committee. It collects five papers exploring a broad (but in many ways common) set of ethical dilemmas faced by researchers engaged with specific platforms such as Reddit, Amazon's Mechanical Turk, and private messaging platforms. These include: a study of people's online conversations about health matters on Reddit in support of a proposed situated ethics framework for researchers working with publicly available data; an exploration into sourcing practices among Reddit researchers to determine if their sources could be unmasked and located in Reddit archives; a broader systematic review of over 700 research studies that used Reddit data to assess the kinds of analysis and methods researchers are engaging in as well as any ethical considerations that emerge when researching Reddit; a critical examination of the use of Amazon's Mechanical Turk for academic research; and an investigation into current practices and ethical dilemmas faced when researching closed messaging applications and their users. Taken together, these papers illuminate emerging ethical dilemmas facing researchers when investigating novel platforms and user communities; challenges often not fully addressed–if even contemplated–in existing ethical guidelines. These papers are among those under consideration for publication in a special issue of the Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society associated with the AoIR Ethics Working Committee and AoIR2021.


Two experimental studies were performed to determine the value of several types of automation for time-pressured replanning tasks. Subjects modified waypoints of twodimensional routes on a computer screen in response to a sudden change in the displayed environment while having access to one of four levels of automation. In addition to a baseline case with no automation, subjects were assisted with automation that either reduced hazard exposure, ensured meeting time-to-target and fuel constraints, or combined hazard avoidance with meeting time and fuel constraints. Time pressure was imposed by requiring a replan of the route within four different levels of time. The two studies examined different ranges of time pressure, ranging from four levels between 20 and 55 seconds or four levels between 20 and 125 seconds. Results show that the presence of automation was most beneficial in the most time-pressured cases, and that the value of automation decreased as more time was available to the subject. Mid-level automation resulted in more routing errors than either full or no automation cases. Subjects were reticent to deviate from highly automated route suggestions even when significant improvements were still


The Michigan Infrared Combiner (MIRC) has been designed for two primary goals: 1) imaging with all six CHARA telescopes simultaneously in the near-infrared, 2) direct detection of "hot Jupiter" exoplanets using precision closure phases. In September 2005, MIRC was commissioned on-sky at the CHARA Array on Mt. Wilson, CA, successfully combining light from 4 telescopes simultaneously. After a brief overview of MIRC features and design philosophy, we provide detailed description of key components and present results of laboratory tests. Lastly, we present first results from the commissioning run, focusing on engineering performance. We also present remarkable on-sky closure phase results from the first night of recorded data with the best-ever demonstrated closure phase stability and precision (ΔΦ = 0.03 degrees).


This study deals with the intricate problem of the deuteronomistic composition of the book of Kings. Its particular aim is to reconstruct the compositional process underlying the final chapters of Kings. The literary-critical assessment of these chapters is a central issue in various theoretical models on the composition of the Deuteronomistic History. The author draws attention to the - often crucial - importance assigned to the Manasseh pericope and related passages in this assessment. He notes that in many models the appraisal of these texts appears to result from general theoretical concerns rather than from an independent literary-critical analysis. This study fills the need for such an analysis. The results lead the author to advance a fresh view on the composition of the last section of the Deuteronomistic History.


Background and aims: Stroke clinical guidelines recommend that "All patients should be screened for communication deficits using a screening tool that is valid and reliable" (p.90). Current speech pathology practice does not meet this recommendation instead relying on clinical experience or informal language screeners which have not undergone validation by clinical research. This research involves the development of the Brisbane Evidence-Based Language Test (Brisbane EBLT), a reliable, valid diagnostic test for the identification of acute post-stroke language disorders. Methods: Brisbane EBLT diagnostic accuracy was determined in a prospective blinded cross-sectional study (n=100 patients) comparing acute stroke patient (<2 months post-stroke) performance on the Brisbane EBLT with performance on a gold-standard language reference measure. Intra-rater and inter-rater reliability was concurrently analysed using a repeated measures study design. Acute stroke patient/family and clinician feedback was also obtained on test items. Results: Diagnostic accuracy analysis revealed test sensitivity of 97.62% (95%CI: 87.4%–99.9%) and specificity of 84% (95%CI: 63.9%–95.5%). Test sensitivity/specificity was determined by calculating Brisbane EBLT total score while controlling for patient age and education level. Patient/family self-report of a new-onset language deficit was also included within the diagnostic accuracy analysis. Data collection was completed at the hospital bedside demonstrating the feasibility of Brisbane EBLT for use in acute contexts. Intra-rater reliability intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) demonstrated almost perfect agreement (0.994; 95% CI: 0.989–0.997) between two speech pathologists' scores of 35 patients when they re-assessed the same patient video after a 2 week interval. Inter-rater reliability also demonstrated almost perfect agreement (0.995; 95% CI: 0.990 – 0.998) when comparing fifteen speech pathologists' scores of fifteen patients completing the new test, as per a priori sample size requirements. Conclusion: The Brisbane EBLT is a new reliable, valid, acute post-stroke diagnostic language test. Test development has been guided by EBP principles to ensure it meets sound psychometric standards, meets patient and clinician needs and is suitable for use in the acute hospital environment. This research will directly contribute to the evidence-base of acute stroke care and assist in bringing practice in line with stroke clinical guideline recommendations.


This paper describes the use of clickers in a Java programming course. However, instead of using ordinary hardware clickers, we use software clickers, implemented in Java, that allow for much richer problem types than the traditional multiple-choice question. The problem types we introduce in this paper give students a much higher degree of freedom in solving a problem, and thus more opportunities for making mistakes. We look at mistakes as learning opportunities, and we introduce a pedagogical approach that allows students to learn from mistakes of their peers. We finish with a case study and evaluation of our implementation of these ideas in an undergraduate Java programming course.


Niemann-Pick proteins type C2 (NPC2) are carriers of cholesterol in vertebrates, with a single member in each species. The high sequence conservation between mammals and across vertebrates is related to their common function. In contrast, NPC2 proteins in arthropods have undergone extensive duplication and differentiation, probably under environmental pressure, and are likely to have different functions. Recent studies have suggested that in arthropods these proteins might act as carriers for semiochemicals and other hydrophobic compounds. In this study we focused on the function of a specific NPC2 gene in the moth Helicoverpa armigera (HarmNPC2-1). This protein binds several flavonoids with micromolar dissociation constants. The best ligand was gossypol, present in cotton, one of the main host plants for H. armigera. Western blot revealed the presence of HarmNPC2-1 in different parts of the body, including the antennae, proboscis, and abdomen. In the antennae, in situ hybridization experiments produced strong staining in auxiliary cells at the base of sensilla trichodea, basiconica, coeloconica, and chaetica. Immunocytochemistry confirmed the expression of the protein in sensilla chaetica. Our results support a role of semiochemical carriers for NPC2 proteins in insects and indicate such proteins as new targets for insecticide-free pest population control.


Markets and mediators: Politics and primary art markets in Montreal is an
ethnographic study of Montreal's primary art market and explains how
history, government policy and calculative agency operate together to
frame the practice of cultural mediators in the visual arts field. Actors
operate within a complex financial and symbolic economy that must
respond to changing modes of governance and international trends that
increasingly concern metropolitan rather than national development.
These forms of agency are situated within overlapping discourses
concerning cultural policy at a provincial and municipal level that organize
the artistic field in the city, the ʻrule and roles' and ʻweak ties' that format
legitimate action in the primary market and the processes that are used to
incorporate new trends and innovation in the field. The thesis argues that
mediators in the primary art market play a generative role in the creation of
a multicultural and cosmopolitan cultural capital while addressing the
conflicting demands of Quebec's nationalist politics. The thesis uses
Bourdieu's field and cultural theory, Callon's theory of markets and
contemporary work on cities and multicultures to understand this
competition over scarce resources by actors in an art world dominated by
state support and institutions. The function of art worlds and their
mediation by urban elites reiterates the political importance of aesthetic
canonization and labor market practice in a city held to bear a specific
responsibility for maintaining a sense of culture and identity.


We conduct a uniform analysis of the transit timing variations (TTVs) of 145 planets from 55 Kepler multiplanet systems to infer planet masses and eccentricities. Eighty of these planets do not have previously reported mass and eccentricity measurements. We employ two complementary methods to fit TTVs: Markov chain Monte Carlo simulations based on N-body integration, and an analytic fitting approach. Mass measurements of 49 planets, including 12 without previously reported masses, meet our criterion for classification as robust. Using mass and radius measurements, we infer the masses of planets' gaseous envelopes for both our TTV sample and transiting planets with radial velocity observations. Insight from analytic TTV formulae allows us to partially circumvent degeneracies inherent to inferring eccentricities from TTV observations. We find that planet eccentricities are generally small, typically a few percent, but in many instances are nonzero.


Japanese Encephalitis Virus (JEV) is one of the most important endemic encephalitis in the world especially in Eastern and Southeastern Asia. JEV affects over 50,000 patients and results in 15,000 deaths annually [1]. JEV is the leading cause of viral encephalitis in 14 Asian countries. Approximately, 60% of the world's population lives at risk in JEV-endemic regions of these countries. JEV is an acute, vector borne, noncontagious, and zoonotic viral infection of the central nervous system transmitted by the bite of infected mosquitoes [2]. JEV is a single stranded RNA virus and belongs to the family Flaviviridae [3]. JEV is transmitted between animals by mosquito species Culex, Anopheles, Mansonia [4]. Humans become infected with JEV coincidentally when living or travelling in close proximity to the enzootic cycle of the virus [4]. Encephalitis was first described in Japan in 1871, followed by outbreaks very few years. In 1924 the disease was named Japanese B encephalitis to distinguish it from von Economo's encephalitis, or type A encephalitis (encephalitis lethargic); this was probably a form of autoimmune or post-infectious encephalitis, which caused an outbreak from 1916 to 1927. However, since then, the term "type A encephalitis" has not been used, and the terms Japanese B encephalitis has also fallen out to use [5]. Viral infection is maintained in enzootic cycles between birds and pigs. Water birds are the main reservoir for disseminating the JEV, whereas pigs are the amplifier hosts. Pigs usually do not show signs of the infection other than abortion and stillbirth, but they show continuous viremia, which allows the transmission of the virus to a human via mosquitoes. Humans and other large vertebrates including horses are not considered as efficient amplifying hosts and are, therefore "dead-end" hosts for the JEV [6]. The period of incubation is about 6-8 days, with a range of 4-15 days. JEV has a prodrome of a few days characterized by fever, headache, nausea, diarrhea, vomiting and myalgia, and they may last for several days. These symptoms are subsequently follows by altered mental status, which can range from mild confusion to coma. Headache and meningismus are more common in adults; seizures develop most often in children. Unintentional, rhythmic muscle movements are common, and mutism has been described as a presenting symptom. Sometimes, especially when there is an involvement of spinal anterior cells, JEV cause a syndrome of acute flaccid paralysis, resulting in a poliomyelitislike presentation. Generally fever disappears in about two weeks as long as with the other neurological symptoms [7]. Therapy for JEV infection is supportive. Different kinds of vaccines (inactivated, attenuated and chimeric) are available and used in several Asiatic countries. In Europe an inactivated vaccine is currently available. Another way to prevent Japanese encephalitis infection is to avoid mosquito bites in endemic rural areas more specifically close to irrigated rice fields and pig farms. Many mosquitoes are most active at dusk and dawn. People can use insect repellents when they are outdoors and wear long sleeves and trousers at these times, or consider staying indoors during these hours [8]. Sporadic introduction of JEV to new areas by migratory birds or by other ways may not necessarily lead to local viral circulation. JEV represents a human health threat in Europe merits further investigation [9]. The presence of JEV in Passeriformes of Tuscany constituting the first evidence of this antropo-zoonotic virus in Italy and also in Europe. The positivity to JEV of some house-sparrows confirms the potential epidemiological role of this bird in the Flavivirus Mosquito-borne JEV group spread, as observed for other viruses of JEV complex [10]. Confirmation of potential introduction of JEV to Italy and other European countries is urgently needed [11]. In order to increase surveillance in Europe improving diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of JEV different elements should be considered. First of all, at the present time there are no standard protocols on how to notify JEV infection and how "contact tracing" should be carry out thought different EU countries. For that reason education is extremely important, focusing especially on transmission pathways and preventive measures; it is also crucial to provide adequate resources to contrast the transmission of this disease. Moreover, in many countries at risk of infection, standard operating procedures and protocols for data exchange are not settled between human and animal health services. Therefore designing and creating a surveillance system for these vectortransmitted diseases should be targeted to develop common procedures and protocols for data exchange.


Active species of copper and iron oxide (Cu–Fe) catalysts supported on alumina were prepared by combining Pechini and wet impregnation methods. The effect of combined acid–base and redox sites of Cu and Fe species on gas-phase ethanol–acetone mixture conversion was investigated. The catalysts were characterized by chemical analyses, XRD, H2-TPR, Mossbauer spectroscopy, N2 physisorption, CO2-TPD, SEM-EDS, TG/DTA and pyridine adsorption isotherms. N2 adsorption/desorption isotherms and SEM-EDS analysis showed that the addition of copper caused an increase of BET surface area and Cu and Fe oxide dispersion. H2-TPR characterization showed that interactions between Cu and Fe oxides shift the reducibility of Fe3+ species to lower temperature improving the redox properties of the catalyst. The partial reduction of the Cu and Fe oxide species was found to be efficient in inhibiting the side decomposition reactions, improving the catalytic efficiency towards dehydrogenation and hydrogen transfer processes. It was found that acid–base pairs play an important role in the formation of dehydrogenation, dehydration and condensation products from ethanol, while redox sites are decisive for hydrogen transfer reactions with reduction of acetone to isopropanol. H2-TPR and Mossbauer spectroscopy results for the spent catalysts revealed that the highest catalytic performance of the Cu–FeAl catalysts may be attributed to the good dispersion of the Cu oxide and the site generated by the partial reduction which produces Cu+/Cu0 and Fe2+ active species. A reaction pathway with the participation of the acid–base and redox sites in the formation of products by consecutive dehydrogenation–condensation or dehydrogenation–hydrogenation reactions has been proposed.


We measured stream temperature continuously during the 2011 summer run‐off season (May through October) in nine watersheds of Southeast Alaska that provide spawning habitat for Pacific salmon. The nine watersheds have glacier coverage ranging from 0% to 63%. Our goal was to determine how air temperature and watershed land cover, particularly glacier coverage, influence stream temperature across the seasonal glacial meltwater hydrograph. Multiple linear regression models identified mean watershed elevation (related to glacier extent) and watershed lake coverage (%) as the strongest landscape controls on mean monthly stream temperature, with the weakest (May) and strongest (July) models explaining 86% and 97% of the temperature variability, respectively. Mean weekly stream temperature was significantly correlated with mean weekly air temperature in seven streams; however, the relationships were weak to non‐significant in the streams influenced by glacial run‐off. Streams with >30% glacier coverage showed decreasing stream temperatures with rising summer air temperatures, whereas those with <30% glacier coverage exhibited summertime warming. Glaciers also had a cooling effect on monthly mean stream temperature during the summer (July through September) equivalent to a decrease of 1.1 °C for each 10% increase in glacier coverage. The maximum weekly average temperature (an index of thermal suitability for salmon) in the six glacial streams was substantially below the lower threshold for optimum salmon growth. This finding suggests that although glaciers are important for moderating summer stream temperatures, future reductions in glacier run‐off may actually improve the thermal suitability of some glacially dominated streams in Southeast Alaska for salmon. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


With 74% of Missouri's forestland controlled by family forest owners, understanding this ownership group is important to ensuring the sustainable management of the state's forests. Audience segmentation techniques can help us to understand the diversity of this growing population, and to design effective communication strategies. Cluster analysis was used to construct an attitudinal typology of family forest owners in Missouri based upon responses to a mail questionnaire. Two attitudinal types of family forest owners were identified: legacy owners, for whom the land is an important part of one's personal and family identity, and detached owners, for whom it is not. Attitudinal type was related to management behaviors, with the legacy-oriented owners being more active forest managers than owners with less interest in family legacy. Legacy owners used more sources of information to learn about their land, and were more influenced by other people when making decisions about their woodland.


We address the problem of gray mail – messages that could reasonably be considered either spam or good. Email users often disagree on this mail, presenting serious challenges to spam filters in both model training and evaluation. In this paper, we propose four simple methods for detecting gray mail and compare their performance using recall-precision curves. Among them, we found that email campaigns that have messages labeled differently are the most reliable source for learning a gray mail detector. Preliminary experiments also show that even when the gray mail detector is imperfect, a traditional statistical spam filter can still be improved consistently in different regions of the ROC curve by incorporating this new information.


Abstract The problem of coloring a graph with the minimum number of colors is well known to be NP-hard, even restricted to k -colorable graphs for constant k ≥ 3. On the other hand, it is known that random k -colorable graphs are easy to k -color. The algorithms for coloring random k -colorable graphs require fairly high edge densities, however. In this paper we present algorithms that color randomly generated k -colorable graphs for much lower edge densities than previous approaches. In addition, to study a wider variety of graph distributions, we also present a model of graphs generated by the semi-random source of Santha and Vazirani (M. Santha and U. V. Vazirani, J. Comput. System Sci. 33 (1986), 75-87) that provides a smooth transition between the worst-case and random models. In this model, the graph is generated by a "noisy adversary"-an adversary whose decisions (whether or not to insert a particular edge) have some small (random) probability of being reversed. We show that even for quite low noise rates, semi-random k -colorable graphs can be optimally colored with high probability.


Society is never just a localized aggregate of people but exists by virtue of its members' narrative and conceptual awareness of other times and places. In Jukka Siikala's work this idea evolves into a broad ethnographic and theoretical interest in worlds beyond the horizon, in the double sense of "past" and "abroad." This book is a tribute to Jukka's contributions to anthropology by his colleagues and students and marks his 60th birthday in January 2007. By exploring the near, distant, inward and outward horizons towards which societies project their reality, the authors aim at developing a new, productive language for addressing culture as a way of experiencing and engaging the world.


Abstract An engineering model is presented for the removal of the plastic mandrel from the inside of a sputtered Be shell. The removal is accomplished by forcing heated air in and out of the 4 to 5 μm laser drilled fill hole in the capsule wall by cycling the external pressure between 2 and 5 atm. The plastic is combusted to CO2 and H2O by this exposure, thus removing the mandrel. Calculations are presented to evaluate the various parameters in the approach. Experimental confirmation of the effectiveness of the removal is shown.


Immediately after a major earthquake, critical facilities need to remain operational, continuously providing healthcare services. Continued operability is dependent on the physical performance of healthcare facilities during the earthquake. Several earthquake resilience-rating systems provide a translation of technical building evaluation data into quick summaries of expected building performance and resilience. These ratings provide an approximation of the intended building performance in relation to safety, repair time, and repair cost. However, the translations between engineering assessments and rating systems is inconsistent, with the same technical inputs producing different resilience estimations. The lack of standardization across rating systems can cause confusion for accurately predicted building outcomes. Further, the level of recovery detail is broad with timeframes measured in weeks, months, or even years. While this may be sufficient for many facilities, it is insufficient for others. For example, critical facilities require estimates of building functionality within minutes, hours, and days of the event to support emergency operations. However, current rating systems and engineering evaluation methods lack the proper resolution to provide this level of detail, making the current rating systems inadequate for emergency planners and may provide communities with a false sense of general preparedness. This paper examines the effectiveness of various resilience-rating systems to predict the overall functionality in a hospital after an earthquake and the issues in converting building performance evaluations into resilience ratings. Further, it presents an additional methodology for addressing resolution gaps in estimating building functionality immediately after the event.


The four decades since the Berger Inquiry have produced a large body of research demonstrating the positive and negative impacts of resource development on northern communities. However, little independent research has aimed to yield an understanding of how best to manage the impacts of resource development and to harness its benefits in ways that can promote long-term sustainable development. This question was the impetus for the Resources and Sustainable Development in the Arctic (ReSDA) research project funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada in 2011. Representing a network of researchers, community members and organizations, ReSDA researchers conducted a series of analyses that focused on what was needed to ensure that northern communities received more benefits from resource development and potential negative impacts were mitigated. Overall, the analyses highlight the serious gaps that remain in our ability to ensure that resource development projects improve the sustainability of Arctic communities. These gaps include a proper understanding of cumulative impacts, the ability of communities to adequately participate in new regulatory processes, the non-economic aspects of well-being, the effects of impact and benefit agreements and new financial benefits, and new mitigation activities.


Purpose Traditional medical school admissions assessment tools may be limiting diversity. This study investigates whether the Multiple Mini-Interview (MMI) is diversity-neutral and, if so, whether applying it with greater weight would dilute the anticipated negative impact of diversity-limiting admissions measures. Method Interviewed applicants to six medical schools in 2008 and 2009 underwent MMI. Predictor variables of MMI scores, grade point average (GPA), and Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) scores were correlated with diversity measures of age, gender, size of community of origin, income level, and self-declared aboriginal status. A subset of the data was then combined with variable weight assigned to predictor variables to determine whether weighting during the applicant selection process would affect diversity among chosen applicants. Results MMI scores were unrelated to gender, size of community of origin, and income level. They correlated positively with age and negatively with aboriginal status. GPA and MCAT correlated negatively with age and aboriginal status, GPA correlated positively with income level, and MCAT correlated positively with size of community of origin. Even extreme combinations of MMI and GPA weightings failed to increase diversity among applicants who would be selected on the basis of weighted criteria. Conclusions MMI could not neutralize the diversity-limiting properties of academic scores as selection criteria to interview. Using academic scores in this way causes range restriction, counteracting attempts to enhance diversity using downstream admissions selection measures such as MMI. Diversity efforts should instead be focused upstream. These results lend further support for the development of pipeline programs.


In 1745, Gerhard van Swieten published, in Latin, a five volume commentary on the writings of Boerhaave1 that influenced medical practice throughout Europe. It contains the following account, considered by Isler2 to be the first description known to date of episodic cluster headache:

> "A healthy, robust man of middle age was, each day, at the same hour troubled by pain above the orbit of the left eye, where the nerve leaves through the bony frontal opening; after a short time the left eye began to redden and tears to flow; then he felt as if his eye was protruding from its orbit with so much pain that he became mad. After a few hours all this evil ceased and nothing in the eye appeared at all changed.
>
> I ordered blood to be let, gave antiphlogistic purgatives, I frequently applied cupping to the neck, vesicant adhesives etc but all in vain. But in …


Demonstration of receptor-mediated targeting of nanoparticles to specific organs and/or cell types is an integral aim in many bionanomedicine development projects. However, engagement of targeted receptors with ligands on nanocarriers, which is the cornerstone of the active targeting concept, is challenging to study under biologically relevant conditions and thus often stays overlooked. In this work, we utilize an in-house established bioassay for in vitro targetability validation of mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs), functionalized with high-affinity peptide ligands to somatostatin receptors via protective group chemistry, ensuring the correct orientation of the peptide's pharmacophore. We demonstrate that targeted nanoparticles, but not scrambled peptide-decorated counterparts, specifically engage the targeted receptors in living cells in culture media containing serum protein. The importance of being able to exclude false positives originating from the premature detachment of targeting peptides from the MSNs is highlighted.


State conversion generalizes query complexity to the problem of converting between two input-dependent quantum states by making queries to the input. We characterize the complexity of this problem by introducing a natural information-theoretic norm that extends the Schur product operator norm. The complexity of converting between two systems of states is given by the distance between them, as measured by this norm. In the special case of function evaluation, the norm is closely related to the general adversary bound, a semi-definite program that lower-bounds the number of input queries needed by a quantum algorithm to evaluate a function. We thus obtain that the general adversary bound characterizes the quantum query complexity of any function whatsoever. This generalizes and simplifies the proof of the same result in the case of boolean input and output. Also in the case of function evaluation, we show that our norm satisfies a remarkable composition property, implying that the quantum query complexity of the composition of two functions is at most the product of the query complexities of the functions, up to a constant. Finally, our result implies that discrete and continuous-time query models are equivalent in the bounded-error setting, even for the general state-conversion problem.


In plants the vacuolar functions are the cellular storage of soluble carbohydrates, organic acids, inorganic ions and toxic compounds. Transporters and channels located in the vacuolar membrane, the tonoplast, are modulated by PTMs to facilitate the optimal functioning of a large number of metabolic pathways. Here we present a phosphoproteomic approach for the identification of in vivo phosphorylation sites of tonoplast (vacuolar membrane) proteins. Highly purified tonoplast and tonoplast‐enriched microsomes were isolated from photosynthetically induced barley (Hordeum vulgare) mesophyll protoplasts. Phosphopeptides were enriched by strong cation exchange (SCX) chromatography followed either by IMAC or titanium dioxide (TiO2) affinity chromatography and were subsequently analysed using LC‐ESI‐MS/MS. In total, 65 phosphopeptides of 27 known vacuolar membrane proteins were identified, including the two vacuolar proton pumps, aquaporins, CAX transporters, Na+/H+ antiporters as well as other known vacuolar transporters mediating the transfer of potassium, sugars, sulphate and malate. The present study provides a novel source to further analyse the regulation of tonoplast proteins by protein phosphorylations, especially as most of the identified phosphorylation sites are highly conserved between Hordeum vulgare (Hv) and Arabidopsis thaliana.


We evaluate the response of perceived tail risks in financial markets to the implementation of unconventional monetary policy by the U.S. Federal Reserve. Using information from out-of-money equity index options, we find that perceived risks decline significantly in response to both policy announcements and actual asset purchases. The announcement effects are strongest specifically for downside risk measures rather than simple measures of volatility (e.g. the VIX). The impact of actual purchases is strongest when driven by simultaneous expansion and the duration extension of the Federal Reserve's balance sheet. These effects of both announcements and purchases have been variable over time and particularly pronounced during the latest policy phases implemented in 2012, a period also coinciding with the Federal Reserve's more extensive use of forward guidance about short-term rates.


: This paper examines the reasons for the variable incidence and forms of historical sociology in several different historical periods, with a focus on Germany and the United States, and the flows of social scientists between those two countries due to forced exile from Nazi Germany, American military occupation after 1945, and the voluntary exchange of academics. Historical sociology was one of the main poles of German sociology before 1933, whereas it had only a handful of proponents in the United States at that time. After 1933 the majority of German historical sociologists went into exile, most of them to the United States. In West Germany historical sociology failed to survive the Nazi period. Several leading Weimar-era historical sociologists had stayed in Germany but were unable to reestablish their prominence. The handful of exiled historical sociologists who returned to Germany after 1945 were marginalized, stopped working historically, or moved into other disciplines like Political Science. The explanation of these trends has to be multicausal and conjunctural.


Epidemiology relies on understanding the distribution of pathogens which often can be detected through DNA-based techniques, such as quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR). Typically, the DNA of each individual sample is separately extracted and undergoes qPCR analysis. However, when performing field surveys and long-term monitoring, a large fraction of the samples is generally expected to be negative, especially in geographical areas still considered free of the pathogen. If pathogen detection within a population – rather than determining its individual prevalence – is the focus, work load and monetary costs can be reduced by pooling samples for DNA extraction. We test and refine a user-friendly technique where skin swabs can be pooled during DNA extraction to detect the amphibian chytrid fungi, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis and B. salamandrivorans (Bsal). We extracted pools with different numbers of samples (from one to four swabs), without increasing reaction volumes, and each pool had one sample inoculated with a predetermined zoospore amount. Pool size did not reduce the ability to detect the two fungi, except if inoculated with extremely low zoospore amounts (one zoospore). We confirm that pooled DNA extraction of cutaneous swabs can substantially reduce processing time and costs without minimizing detection sensitivity. This is of relevance especially for the new emerging pathogen Bsal, for which pooled DNA extraction had so far not been tested and massive monitoring efforts in putatively unaffected regions are underway.


This contribution introduces the basic techniques for digital facial engraving, which imitates traditional copperplate engraving. Inspired by traditional techniques, we first establish a set of basic rules thanks to which separate engraving layers are built on the top of the original photo. Separate layers are merged according to simple merging rules and according to range shift/scale masks specially introduced for this purpose. We illustrate the introduced technique by a set of black/white and color engravings, showing different features such as engraving-specific image enhancements, mixing different regular engraving lines with mezzotint, irregular perturbations of engraving lines etc. We introduce the notion of engraving style which comprises a set of separate engraving layers together with a set of associated range shift/scale masks. The engraving style helps to port the look and feel of one engraving to another. Once different libraries of pre-defined mappable engraving styles and an appropriate user interface are added to the basic system, producing a decent gravure starting from a simple digital photo will be a matter of seconds. The engraving technique described in this contribution opens new perspectives for digital art, adding unprecedented power and precision to the engraver's work.


As a major mode choice of commuters, public transit plays an important role in relieving congestion on urban transportation networks. A model is developed for cost-efficient operation that optimizes all-stop, short-turn, and express transit services and the associated frequencies by considering heterogeneous demand. For a transit line with given stations and origin–destination demand, the objective total cost function is optimized by considering a set of constraints that ensure frequency conservation and sufficient capacity subject to operable fleet size. A numerical example is designed that is based on a real-world rail transit line to demonstrate the applicability and effectiveness of the developed model. Results show that optimized integrated service patterns and associated service frequencies significantly reduce total cost.


The production of insulating materials for buildings obtained from the valorization of agro-resources is a promising way both in terms of ecology and hygrothermal performances of these composites. However, the lack of information on their resistance to mold development limits their use. The mold development is indeed likely to cause health problems and to induce damage. There is therefore a need to classify the materials according to their resistance to mold growth and disintegration in order to use them appropriately. The purpose of this paper is to propose a test method that qualifies bio-based composites with respect to their performance. An accelerated aging test was carried out on 5 composites made with two different agro-resources (hemp and rape) with different binders. It consists in exposing the specimens to a temperature of 30°C and a relative humidity of 90 %RH for three months. During the test, the specimens are regularly photographed and weighed. The evolution of two indicators is thus measured over time: the sample mass and the percentage of its external surface contaminated by fungi. At the end of the test, a microscopic view makes it possible to identify the species of the molds which have contaminated the composite.


Rice is the staple food for about half of the world's population. Although global production has more than doubled in the last 40 years, food security problems still persist and need to be managed based on early and reliable forecasting activities. This is especially true since the frequency of extreme weather events is forecasted to increase by the intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC). The most advanced crop yield forecasting systems are based on simulation models. However, examples of operational systems implementing models which are suitable for reproducing the peculiarities of paddy rice, especially on small scales, are missing. The rice model WARM is used within the crop yield forecasting system of the European Commission. In this article we evaluated the WARM model for the simulation of rice growth under flooded and unflooded conditions in China and Italy. The WARM model simulates crop growth and development, floodwater effect on the vertical thermal profile, blast disease, cold-shock induced spikelet sterility during the pre-flowering period and hydrological peculiarities of paddy soils. We identified the most relevant model parameters through sensitivity analyses carried out using the Sobol' method and then calibrated using the simplex algorithm. Data from 11 published experiments, covering 13 locations and 10 years, were used. Two groups of rice varieties were identified for each country. Our results show that the model was able to reproduce rice growth in both countries. Specifically, the average relative root mean square error calculated on aboveground biomass curves was 21.9% for the calibration and 23.6% for validation. The parameters of the linear regression equation between measured and simulated values were always satisfactory. Indeed, intercept and slope were always close to their optima and R2 was always higher than 0.79. For some of the combinations of country and simulated variable, the indices of agreement calculated for the validation datasets were better then the corresponding ones computed at the end of the calibration, indirectly proving the robustness of the modeling approach. WARM's robustness and accuracy, combined with the low requirements in terms of inputs and the implementation of modules for reproducing biophysical processes strongly influencing the year-to-year yield variation, make the model suitable for forecasting rice yields on regional, national and international scales.


The methods of preserving cultural heritage are becoming increasingly digital, and with this development it is becoming all the more open to public scrutiny. The field of virtual heritage and their applications, which digitally preserve cultural heritage using virtual reality, are struggling to live up to the expectations of the public. The virtual heritage field has begun to look for solutions to their problems in other fields, such as that of video games. This thesis identifies 17 elements which are sought after for incorporation in virtual heritage applications, by conducting a literature review of recent virtual heritage research and organizing the findings into a matrix. The occurrence of the identified elements in four different modern entertainment video games is further analyzed and described. The resulted element matrix and game reviews could be used in the future development of virtual heritage applications, and of cultural heritage or historical video games.


The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of transient prehypertensive treatment with losartan compared with amlodipine in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) on long-term blood pressure (BP), cardiac and renal protection. SHRs were prehypertensively treated with losartan, amlodipine or saline. Rats were followed up until 46 weeks of age. The left ventricular (LV) geometry and function were assessed by echocardiography. Angiotensin II (Ang II) and aldosterone (Aldo) were measured by radioimmunoassay. Ang II type 1 (AT1R) and type 2 (AT2R) receptor protein expression was determined by western blotting. The systolic blood pressure (SBP) in losartan-treated SHRs (SHR-Los) was persistently reduced until 46 weeks of age, but returned to untreated SHR levels in amlodipine-treated SHRs (SHR-Aml) from 30 weeks onwards. Compared to untreated SHRs, the albuminuria excretion in SHR-Los at week 46 was markedly decreased, the plasma, myocardium and renal tissue Ang II and Aldo levels in SHR-Los at week 46 were markedly decreased; AT1R and TGF-β1 protein expression was downregulated and AT2R protein was upregulated. Compared to untreated SHRs, the left ventricular mass index (LVMI) and collagen volume fraction (CVF) in SHR-Los were markedly decreased until week 46, and the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and cardiac brain natriuretic peptide mRNA expression were improved, whereas similar LVMI and elevated CVF were observed in SHR-Aml, and the LVEF decreased significantly below that of untreated SHRs at week 46, with cardiac BNP mRNA expression increasing slightly. Prehypertensive treatment with losartan was more effective than amlodipine on delaying long-term BP increase and ameliorating cardiac, renal structure and function, which may be related to the permanent attenuation of the circulating and local renin-angiotensin systems.


Mortality rates are often used in population-level animal welfare assessments because they are assumed to reflect rates of disease or injury and other problems likely to cause poor welfare. High mortality is thus assumed to correlate with factors likely to cause negative affective states. Here, we argue that negative affective states are also related to mortality rates more directly, via causal rather than merely correlational routes. In humans, negative affective states predict elevated morbidity and mortality rates as well as decreased longevity, while self-reported happiness does the opposite. This review investigates whether mortality rates and longevity can thus be used to make inferences regarding past affective states in animals. The proposed mechanism is that chronic stressors cause negative affective states and thence harmful physiological consequences through continual activation of the hypothalamicpituitary-adrenal and sympathetic-adreno-medullary axes, which in turn can lead to increased mortality. The convergent validity of mortality as an indicator of past negative affect is demonstrated via examples of how stressors such as bereavement in humans and social isolation in social non-human species cause negative affective states, and then increase the morbidity of potentially lethal conditions such as cardiovascular disease, cancer and HIV/AIDS, ultimately leading to increased mortality and reduced longevity in both humans and animals. The potential drawbacks of using mortality rates to infer animal welfare are also discussed, including its low sensitivity and the multiplicity of factors unrelated to affective states that can influence mortality rates. However, providing these issues are accounted for, it is suggested that this indicator has value in welfare assessment, and is especially well suited for cases where animals are allowed to live out their natural lifespans, such as tends to be the case with zoo and companion animals.


In this paper, we present the design and the implementation of a digital Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) for Acoustic Emission (AE) non-destructive testing. The AE non-destructive testing method is a diagnostic method used to detect faults in mechanically loaded structures and components. If a structure is subjected to mechanical load or stress, the presence of structural discontinuities releases energy in the form of acoustic emissions through the constituting material. The analysis of these acoustic emissions can be used to determine the presence of faults in several structures. The proposed circuit has been designed for IoT (Internet of Things) applications, and it can be used to simplify the existing procedures adopted for structural integrity verifications of pressurized metal tanks that, in some countries, they are based on periodic checks. The proposed ASIC is provided of Digital Signal Processing (DSP) capabilities for the extraction of the main four parameters used in the AE analysis that are the energy of the signal, the duration of the event, the number of the crossing of a certain threshold and finally the maximum value reached by the AE signal. The circuit is provided of an SPI interface capable of sending and receiving data to/from wireless transceivers to share information on the web. The DSP circuit has been coded in VHDL and synthesized in 90 nm technology using Synopsys. The circuit has been characterized in terms of area, speed, and power consumption. Experimental results show that the proposed circuit presents very low power consumption properties and low area requirements.