BACKGROUND
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of chronic disability. Worldwide, it is the leading cause of disability in the under 40s, resulting in severe disability in some 150 to 200 million people per annum. In addition to mood and behavioural problems, cognition-particularly memory, attention and executive function-are commonly impaired by TBI. Cognitive problems following TBI are one of the most important factors in determining people's subjective well-being and their quality of life. Drugs are widely used in an attempt to improve cognitive functions. Whilst cholinergic agents in TBI have been reviewed, there has not yet been a systematic review or meta-analysis of the effect on chronic cognitive problems of all centrally acting pharmacological agents.

OBJECTIVES
To assess the effects of centrally acting pharmacological agents for treatment of chronic cognitive impairment subsequent to traumatic brain injury in adults.

SEARCH METHODS
We searched ALOIS-the Cochrane Dementia and Cognitive Improvement Group's Specialised Register-on 16 November 2013, 23 February 2013, 20 January 2014, and 30 December 2014 using the terms: traumatic OR TBI OR "brain injury" OR "brain injuries" OR TBIs OR "axonal injury" OR "axonal injuries". ALOIS contains records of clinical trials identified from monthly searches of a number of major healthcare databases, numerous trial registries and grey literature sources. Supplementary searches were also performed in MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, The Cochrane Library, CINAHL, LILACs, ClinicalTrials.gov, the World Health Organization (WHO) Portal (ICTRP) and Web of Science with conference proceedings.

SELECTION CRITERIA
We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs) assessing the effectiveness of any one centrally acting pharmacological agent that affects one or more of the main neurotransmitter systems in people with chronic traumatic brain injury; and there had to be a minimum of 12 months between the injury and entry into the trial.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Two review authors examined titles and abstracts of citations obtained from the search. Relevant articles were retrieved for further assessment. A bibliographic search of relevant papers was conducted. We extracted data using a standardised tool, which included data on the incidence of adverse effects. Where necessary we requested additional unpublished data from study authors. Risk of bias was assessed by a single author.

MAIN RESULTS
Only four studies met the criteria for inclusion, with a total of 274 participants. Four pharmacological agents were investigated: modafinil (51 participants); (-)-OSU6162, a monoamine stabiliser (12 participants of which six had a TBI); atomoxetine (60 participants); and rivastigmine (157 participants). A meta-analysis could not be performed due to the small number and heterogeneity of the studies.All studies examined cognitive performance, with the majority of the psychometric sub-tests showing no difference between treatment and placebo (n = 274, very low quality evidence). For (-)-OSU6162 modest superiority over placebo was demonstrated on three measures, but markedly inferior performance on another. Rivastigmine was better than placebo on one primary measure, and a single cognitive outcome in a secondary analysis of a subgroup with more severe memory impairment at baseline. The study of modafinil assessed clinical global improvement (n = 51, low quality evidence), and did not find any difference between treatment and placebo. Safety, as measured by adverse events, was reported by all studies (n = 274, very low quality evidence), with significantly more nausea reported by participants who received rivastigmine compared to placebo. There were no other differences in safety between treatment and placebo. No studies reported any deaths.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
There is insufficient evidence to determine whether pharmacological treatment is effective in chronic cognitive impairment in TBI. Whilst there is a positive finding for rivastigmine on one primary measure, all other primary measures were not better than placebo. The positive findings for (-)-OSU6162 are interpreted cautiously as the study was small (n = 6). For modafinil and atomoxetine no positive effects were found. All four drugs appear to be relatively well tolerated, although evidence is sparse.


The true stress-strain curves of polycrystalline aluminum, copper, and stainless steel are shown to be adequately represented by an exponential approach to a saturation stress over a significant range. This empirical law, which was first proposed by Voce, is expanded to describe the temperature and strain-rate dependence, and is put on a physical foundation in the framework of dislocation storage and dynamic recovery rates. The formalism can be applied to the steady-state limit of creep in the same range of temperatures and strain rates; the stress exponent of the creep rate must, as a consequence, be strongly temperature dependent, the activation energy weakly stress dependent. Near half the melting temperature, where available work-hardening data and available creep data overlap, they match. Extrapolation of the proposed law to higher temperatures suggests that no new mechanisms may be necessary to describe high-temperature creep. A new differential equation for transient creep also follows from the empirical work-hardening law.


Modern and preserved coral reefs on islands exhibit a broad range of forms, from actively accreting fringing and barrier reefs to terraces preserved by drowning or subaerial exposure. Darwin's canonical model of reef development proposes an evolutionary sequence of reef forms as a volcanic island ages and subsides, from fringing reef to lagoon-bounding barrier reef to atoll. Compiled data from modern systems show, however, that many islands do not follow this sequence, implying that reefs are shaped by more than island subsidence alone. We show that the diversity of modern reef morphology arises from the combined effects of island subsidence, coral growth, and glacial sea-level cycles. A model for the evolution of a reef elevation profile over the past 400 k.y. reveals that different combinations of reef accretion rate and island vertical motion produce a variety of forms that matches the observed distribution of modern reefs. This match occurs only if the model is driven by Pleistocene sea-level oscillations—few modern environments have the right combination of conditions to produce the Darwinian atoll progression.


We introduce the probabilistic action system formalism which combines refinement with performance. Performance is expressed by means of probability and expected costs. Probability is needed to express uncertainty present in physical environments. Expected costs express physical or abstract quantities that describe a system. They encode the performance objective. The behaviour of probabilistic action systems is described by traces of expected costs. Corresponding notions of refinement and simulation-based proof rules are introduced. Formal notations like B or action systems support a notion of refinement. Refinement relates an abstract specification AA to a more deterministic concrete specification CC. Knowing AA and CC one proves CC refines, or implements, specification AA. In this study we consider specification AA as given and concern ourselves with a way to find a good candidate for implementation CC. To this end we classify all implementations of an abstract specification according to their performance. The performance of a specification AA is a value val.AA associated with some optimal behaviour it may exhibit. We distinguish performance from correctness. Concrete systems that do not meet the abstract specification are excluded. Only the remaining correct implementations CC are considered with respect to their performance. A good implementation of a specification is identified by having some optimal behaviour in common with it. In other words, a good refinement corresponds to a reduction of non-optimal behaviour. This also means that the abstract specification sets a boundary val.AA for the performance of any implementation. An implementation may perform worse than its specification but never better. Probabilistic action systems are based on discrete-time Markov decision processes. Numerical methods solving the optimisation problems posed by Markov decision processes are well-known, and used in a software tool that we have developed. The tool computes an optimal behaviour of a specification AA, and the associated value val.AA, thus assisting in the search for a good implementation CC. We present examples and case studies to demonstrate the use of probabilistic action systems.


In this paper we aim to push the analogy between thermodynamics and quantum resource theories one step further. Previous inspirations were based on thermodynamic considerations concerning scenarios with a single heat bath, neglecting an important part of thermodynamics that studies heat engines operating between two baths at different temperatures. Here, we investigate the performance of resource engines, which replace the access to two heat baths at different temperatures with two arbitrary constraints on state transformations. The idea is to imitate the action of a two--stroke heat engine, where the system is sent to two agents (Alice and Bob) in turns, and they can transform it using their constrained sets of free operations. We raise and address several questions, including whether or not a resource engine can generate a full set of quantum operations or all possible state transformations, and how many strokes are needed for that. We also explain how the resource engine picture provides a natural way to fuse two or more resource theories, and we discuss in detail the fusion of two resource theories of thermodynamics with two different temperatures, and two resource theories of coherence with respect to two different bases.


This paper provides a historical summary of military nutrition research into the role of diet for sustaining soldier physical performance. Studies of underfeeding document that physical performance is preserved during several days of underfeeding provided sufficient carbohydrate and minerals are consumed to minimize the diuresis associated with semi-starvation diets and serial intake of carbohydrate is available to support metabolism during prolonged work. The Military Recommended Dietary Allowances, AR 40-25, currently recommends that when restricted rations are required, that the ration contain at least 1100‐ 1500 kcal, 50 ‐70 g of protein, and a minimum of 100 g of carbohydrate on a daily basis. This low energy diet, however, is not recommended for subsistence for longer than 10 consecutive days. Dietary carbohydrate intakes of approximately 300‐ 400 g will more closely match the quantity of carbohydrate oxidized to meet daily energy requirements during field operations. Research into the potential advantages of dietary supplements has generally not proved advantageous when compared to eating a well balanced diet. Future investigations of the role of diet for sustaining soldier health and performance should be directed toward a better understanding of the influence of energy intake and macro-nutrient composition for preserving lean body mass, reducing susceptibility to illness and injury and enhancing recovery during and after sustained operations. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.


Viruses and hosts have been shown to capture genes from one another as part of the evolutionary arms race. Such genes offer a natural experiment on the effects of evolutionary pressure, since the same gene exists in vastly different selective environments. However, sequences of viral homologs often bear little similarity to the original sequence, complicating the reconstruction of their shared evolutionary history with host counterparts. In this study, we use a genus of herpesviruses as a model system to comprehensively investigate the evolution of host-derived viral genes, using a synthesis of genomics, phylogenetics, selection analysis, and nucleotide and amino acid modeling. ABSTRACT Like many other large double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) viruses, herpesviruses are known to capture host genes to evade host defenses. Little is known about the detailed natural history of such genes, nor do we fully understand their evolutionary dynamics. A major obstacle is that they are often highly divergent, maintaining very low sequence similarity to host homologs. Here we use the herpesvirus genus Rhadinovirus as a model system to develop an analytical approach that combines complementary evolutionary and bioinformatic techniques, offering results that are both detailed and robust for a range of genes. Using a systematic phylogenetic strategy, we identify the original host lineage of viral genes with high confidence. We show that although host immunomodulatory genes evolve rapidly compared to other host genes, they undergo a clear increase in purifying selection once captured by a virus. To characterize this shift in detail, we developed a novel technique to identify changes in selection pressure that can be attributable to particular domains. These findings will inform us on how viruses develop strategies to evade the immune system, and our synthesis of techniques can be reapplied to other viruses or biological systems with similar analytical challenges. IMPORTANCE Viruses and hosts have been shown to capture genes from one another as part of the evolutionary arms race. Such genes offer a natural experiment on the effects of evolutionary pressure, since the same gene exists in vastly different selective environments. However, sequences of viral homologs often bear little similarity to the original sequence, complicating the reconstruction of their shared evolutionary history with host counterparts. In this study, we use a genus of herpesviruses as a model system to comprehensively investigate the evolution of host-derived viral genes, using a synthesis of genomics, phylogenetics, selection analysis, and nucleotide and amino acid modeling.


Abstract A series of very wide (up to 15 km) raised shore platforms in the Scottish Hebrides are identified and described for the first time and are considered part of a high rock platform shoreline in the western isles of Scotland described by W. B. Wright in his classic Geological Magazine paper a century ago as a 'preglacial' feature. Subsequent interpretations suggesting that the platforms were produced during the Pleistocene are rejected here in favour of a speculative hypothesis that the features are part of the well-known strandflat that is extensively developed across large areas of the northern hemisphere. It is argued that the Scottish strandflat developed during the Pliocene and was later subjected to extensive Pleistocene glacial erosion such that only a few areas of platform have survived in the Scottish Inner Hebrides (ice-proximal) while they are well-preserved in the Outer Hebrides (ice-distal). Support for a Pliocene hypothesis is provided by the marine oxygen isotope record for this time interval which points to prolonged periods of relative sea level stability as would be required for the production of such wide features. This hypothesis for the formation of a Scottish strandflat not only provides an elegant explanation for the origin and age of the raised rock platform fragments that occur throughout the western isles of Scotland, but it may also have relevance for other coastal areas of the northern hemisphere (e.g. Norway, Greenland, Alaska) where the strandflat is a well-developed feature.


We present an analysis of the sensitivity to different physical parameterizations of a high-resolution simulation of the MM5 mesoscale model over the Iberian Peninsula. Several (16) 5-year runs of the MM5 model with varying parameterizations of microphysics, cumulus, planetary boundary layer and longwave radiation have been carried out. The results have been extensively compared with observational precipitation and surface temperature data. The parameterization uncertainty has also been compared with that related to the boundary conditions and the varying observational data sets. The annual cycles of precipitation and surface temperature are well reproduced. The summer season presents the largest deviations, with a 5 K cold bias in the southeast and noticeable precipitation errors over mountain areas. The cold bias seems to be related to the surface, probably because of the excessive moisture availability of the five-layer soil scheme used. No parameterization combination was found to perform best in simulating both precipitation and surface temperature in every season and subregion. The Kain-Fritsch cumulus scheme was found to produce unrealistically high summer precipitation. The longwave radiation parameterizations tested were found to have little impact on our target variables. Other factors, such as the choice of boundary conditions, have an impact on the results as large as the selection of parameterizations. The range of variability in the MM5 physics ensemble is of the same order of magnitude as the observational uncertainty, except in summer, when it is larger and probably related to the inaccuracy of the model to reproduce the summer precipitation over the area.


This paper describes an experimental investigation of self-tapping fasteners for the attachment of corrugated fiber-reinforced plastics (FRP) cladding panels to pultruded FRP beams. Although self-tapping fasteners have been used in the past, their durability and performance under cyclic loads have not been documented. Due to a concern that the holding power of self-tapping fasteners would be reduced under the accumulated action of dynamic wind loads under life cycle use, small bolts have been typically used. However, the use of bolts increases installation costs dramatically due to the need to have workmen on each side of the panel during installation. The experimental investigation consisted of a series of static pullout tests, a series of cyclic loading tests, and a combination of the two to determine the amount of retained pullout capacity after cyclic loading. The static pullout tests were performed to determine the average pullout capacity. The cyclic loading tests were performed to determine the durability of the connection under cyclic loading at varying load levels. Two series of these tests were performed, one with peak loads at about two-tenths, and another at about six tenths of the pullout load. The lower load level was chosen to represent an average wind load condition, and the higher load level was chosen to represent a wind load condition at the design load. The tests to determine the amount of retained pullout capacity were performed after cyclic load tests at both load levels. The results of the pullout tests showed that this type of fastener produces static pullout capacities of the magnitude required for this application. The cyclic loading tests showed that this type of fastener could survive cyclic loading without failure for over 10,000 cycles at the higher load level and as high as 250,000 cycles at the lower load level. The tests for pullout capacity retention indicate that an acceptable amount of the pullout capacity is retained at either load level. These results indicate that self-tapping screws would be applicable for use in fastening corrugated cladding panels to pultruded FRP beams.


The accumulating but small set of large semimajor axis trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) shows an apparent clustering in the orientations of their orbits. This clustering must either be representative of the intrinsic distribution of these TNOs, or else have arisen as a result of observation biases and/or statistically expected variations for such a small set of detected objects. The clustered TNOs were detected across different and independent surveys, which has led to claims that the detections are therefore free of observational bias. This apparent clustering has led to the so-called "Planet 9" hypothesis that a super-Earth currently resides in the distant solar system and causes this clustering. The Outer Solar System Origins Survey (OSSOS) is a large program that ran on the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope from 2013 to 2017, discovering more than 800 new TNOs. One of the primary design goals of OSSOS was the careful determination of observational biases that would manifest within the detected sample. We demonstrate the striking and non-intuitive biases that exist for the detection of TNOs with large semimajor axes. The eight large semimajor axis OSSOS detections are an independent data set, of comparable size to the conglomerate samples used in previous studies. We conclude that the orbital distribution of the OSSOS sample is consistent with being detected from a uniform underlying angular distribution.


Abstract Indolent lymphomas primarily involving the skeleton (iPBL) represent < 1% of all primary bone lymphomas. The management and prognosis have not been previously described. Patients with primary and secondary iPBL were selected from an international database of 499 patients with a histopathological diagnosis of non-Hodgkin lymphoma and skeleton involvement, and clinical features, management and prognosis were analyzed. Twenty-six (5%) patients had an iPBL. Ten patients had small lymphocytic lymphoma, 10 had follicular lymphoma and six had lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma. Eleven patients had limited stage and 15 had advanced disease. The overall response rate was 73% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 57–89%). Median follow-up was 58 months, and the 5- and 10-year progression-free survival (PFS) rates were 37 ± 10% and 25 ± 12%, respectively. Nine patients are alive, with 5- and 10-year overall survival (OS) rates of 46 ± 10% and 29 ± 11%, respectively. Patients with small lymphocytic lymphoma showed significantly better outcome than patients with follicular lymphoma. Performance status and stage of disease were independently associated with OS. The prognosis of patients with primary bone lymphoplasmacytic or follicular lymphoma was less favorable.


We propose two complementary design principles for engineering three-dimensional (3D) Weyl semimetals and superconductors in a layer-by-layer setup which includes even and odd parity orbitals in alternating layers - dubbed orbital selective superlattice. Such structure breaks mirror symmetry along the superlattice growth axis which, with the help of either a basal plane spin-orbit coupling or a spinless p+ip superconductivity, stabilizes a 3D Dirac node. To explore this idea, we develop a 3D generalization of Haldane model and a Bogoliubov-de-Gennes (BdG) Hamiltonian for the two cases, respectively, and show that a tunable single or multiple Weyl nodes with linear dispersion in all spatial directions can be engineered desirably in a widespread parameter space. We also demonstrate that a single helical Weyl band can be created at the $\Gamma$-point at the Fermi level in the superconducting case via gapping out either of the orbital state by violating its particle-hole symmetry but not any other symmetries. Finally, implications of our results for the realization of anomalous Hall effect and Majorana bound state are discussed.


Plant essential oils are being taken into greater consideration because their constituents have unique antioxidant and antimicrobial properties which makes it a good alternative to synthetic antioxidant and chemical pesticides. The present study was conducted to evaluate the antioxidant and antifungal activities of lemongrass (Cymbogon schoenanthus L.), sage (Salvia officinalis L.) and thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.) essential oils. The chemical compositions of three hydrodistilled essential oils were analyzed by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS) system. The major components in lemongrass, sage and thyme essential oils were D-limonene (52.34%), eucalyptol (43.17%) and thymol (27.94%), respectively. The antioxidant activities of three essential oils were evaluated by using reducing power assay and DPPH methods. The highest antioxidant activity was recorded for lemongrass, followed by sage and thyme essential oils, respectively. The effect of thyme, sage and lemongrass essential oils at two concentrations on the control of pea root-rot and damping-off diseases were determined in vitro and in vivo. The results showed that application of oils significantly reduced the mycelial growth, disease severity and increase plant growth parameters. Thyme essential oil (10% conc.) gave the best results followed by lemongrass oil (10% conc.) while sage oil (5% conc.) gave the least effect. These data denoted that the three essential oils possess antimicrobial and antioxidant properties, so these essential oils can be used as natural antioxidant in food and pharmaceuticals and also in biological control.


We demonstrate the insertion of a micromirror into the core of a hollow core photonic crystal fiber (HC-PCF). The micromirror is formed from a single mode fiber that has been tapered to fit into the hollow core and fixed in place using a fusion splicer. A large range of reflectivities higher than 4% was also achieved by silver-coating the silica tapered-fiber end-face using thermal evaporation. The current micromirror provides two key advantages over using a full-sized fiber splice to create a reflective interface. First, the tapered fiber tip can be coated to increase the reflectivity without degradation due to heating during the splicing process. Second, increased efficiency of input and output coupling is possible because of improved mode-field overlap with the fundamental mode of the HC-PCF. We show potential applications of micromirrors for the formation of microcavities in hollow-core fibers and for gas saturated absorption spectroscopy.


A vexing modern conundrum is to be solved. The use of oil, gas, and coal is extremely short-lived as a historical phenomenon: a mere blink of an eye at a little more than 1% of total urban history of 10,000 years to-date. Yet current urban civilization is almost entirely based on it. And the fossil-fuel economy poses not only a massive security risk, it also lies at the root of the vast majority of urban sustainability problems. Fresh water depletion, air pollution, widespread human fatalities can be directly traced to the excessive use of these dirty energy sources. Climate change, predominantly triggered by fossil-fuel combustion, only deepens the very questions the impending petroleum peak raises about the survivability of the global urban system. The fossil disease is a complex global pandemic. To many, conquering this pandemic is an extraordinary challenge of technology: of reengineering the manner in which urban civilization is powered, advancing a future envisioned in numerous studies since the 1970s. Yet foremost, this is a cultural, psychological, and political challenge. The global economy is systematically identified with its underlying fossil supply frameworks—it is a fossil economy. It is marked by an incendiary illusion: the celebration of abundance promised as achievable by all, driving virtually all aspects of contemporary culture. Yet it is also marred with enormous pockets of deprivation, and deep cracks of disbelief, criticism, and dissent. Reinforcing this challenge is the psychoeconomical transaction cost of change, the sheer inertia of an infernal development system, however short-lived it inevitably is. Despite all lip service paid to 'energy savings' and 'environmentally sustainable development' in urban policy documents and brochures across the globe, dominant political and financial interests demand that as much fossil fuel as possible is used, and as quickly as possible, to secure the highest possible profits for the most powerful, and in the shortest period of time. Hence many national governments and international bodies find it so difficult to place fossil-fuel replacement on the global agenda. It is easier to avoid this topic and talk about buffering, mitigating what are little else than subsidiary, flow-on effects and collateral outcomes of an unsolved energy conundrum: air, water and soil pollution, public health problems, deforestation or fresh water depletion. Rarely, if ever, is petroleum abuse clearly noted as a root cause. A historical revolution is in progress: the move from fossil fuels, nuclear power, and other forms of unsustainable energy use generation to a renewable and sustainable power base for urban communities, cities, towns, and villages. Many examples of positive initiatives encourage, and are testimony to the ability of cities and towns to perform as communities, and evolve into settings of greater independence from fossil and nuclear power sources. They carry the promise of greater energy autonomy based on renewable energy, of recapturing regional productivity, advancing local resources, and enabling new industries and employment opportunities.


Gaussian processes provide a powerful probabilistic kernel learning framework, which allows learning high quality nonparametric regression models via methods such as Gaussian process regression. Nevertheless, the learning phase of Gaussian process regression requires massive computations which are not realistic for large datasets. In this paper, we present a Gauss-Legendre quadrature based approach for scaling up Gaussian process regression via a low rank approximation of the kernel matrix. We utilize the structure of the low rank approximation to achieve effective hyperparameter learning, training and prediction. Our method is very much inspired by the well-known random Fourier features approach, which also builds low-rank approximations via numerical integration. However, our method is capable of generating high quality approximation to the kernel using an amount of features which is poly-logarithmic in the number of training points, while similar guarantees will require an amount that is at the very least linear in the number of training points when random Fourier features. Furthermore, the structure of the low-rank approximation that our method builds is subtly different from the one generated by random Fourier features, and this enables much more efficient hyperparameter learning. The utility of our method for learning with low-dimensional datasets is demonstrated using numerical experiments.


The West's Last Chance: Will We Win the Clash of Civilizations? Tony Blankley Regnery Publishing, Inc., 2005 This book is important because it illustrates so well a genre that is almost certain to become common, and perhaps increasingly popular, as the West becomes ever more terriryingly beseiged within a world of anger and resentment. We can expect many strident "calls to action" by individuals of magisterial personality to whom a "power ahead to victory" strategy seems intuitively right for its directness, but who see only part of the challenges facing the West and whose acceptance of the conventional wisdom on many things imposes conceptual limitations. We might well call this the "testosterone genre." It is natural enough when a mortal threat is perceived to flay away at it, and to suppose that if the flaying is done with enough will and strength the threat will crumble before it. This will work against some threats, and will always appeal to the "man of action," which is why books predicated on this psychology will be instinctively attractive to many. The problem, however, is that flaying away is no solution if one is tramping around in a colony of fire ants or sinking in quicksand. Something more thoughtful is needed. Tony Blankley is the editorial page editor for The Washington Times, was a speech writer and senior policy analyst for President Ronald Reagan, and was for seven years press secretary to U. S. congressman Newt Gingrich while the latter was Speaker of the House. His book is of the "action" genre. Its merit is that it sees well-and will help to raise consciousness about-the demographic threat to Europe arising from Islamic immigration and increasing radicalism, and more broadly the conundrum posed by the interface between a West that has lost energy and confidence and an Islam in turmoil that is overflowing with fervor, resentment, pride and energy. These are important strengths. The book's weakness is in its intellectual limitations, which lead to an arguably disastrous strategy. Blankley points to the fact that a Europe that has long been experiencing a below-replacement birthrate has allowed an on-going Muslim immigration that has by now brought the Islamic population in Europe to over twenty million. Many of the newcomers, he observes, do not favor integrating into European society, but even go so far recently as to demand that Islamic law-sharia-be applied to them. It has gotten to a point where some Islamic sectors in European cities are "no-go zones" for native Europeans. Beyond the problem of assimilation is the added ingredient that the Muslim population is increasingly infected by Islamist extremism. So far, there has been little effective opposition to this demographic invasion: "Europe as a whole-but particularly its leadership class-has been in the deepest possible denial." Nevertheless, Blankley is optimistic. He sees that in the dialectic of push-and-shove that one might well expect in such a situation, the provocations from the extremism itself are already producing some awakening among Europeans. "Anti-Islamist fear and anger" has begun "to break through the surface calm perpetuated by the European elite...." Blankley casts this in a context broader even than Europe when he writes that "in the strangest possible irony, the threat of radical Islam is giving the West a second chance to regain its faith in itself." His perception of danger is not limited, of course, to Europe's internal problem. He sees that in the world at large "today's Islamist insurgency is something different from anything we have experienced before." Within the world Muslim population of 1.3 billion people, there are the insurgents themselves, who are "murdering large numbers of people in what they feel is their religious duty"; there is a broader circle of those who are "supportive or protective of these killers"; and then there is "a yet larger number of Muslims, while not supportive of such tactics, [who] share many of the terrorists' religious convictions and perceptions. …


BACKGROUND
African American (AA) girls initiate alcohol use later and drink less than European American (EA) girls, potentially reflecting differences in the development of drinking behaviors. This study examined alcohol-related cognitions: expectancies, attitudes, and intention to drink, as possible sources of variation by race in alcohol use. The aim of this study was to characterize the nature and degree of association between cognitions and use over time and by race in EA and AA girls.

METHODS
Data were drawn from the longitudinal Pittsburgh Girls Study (N = 2,450), an urban population-based sample of girls and their caregivers recruited when girls were between ages 5 and 8, and assessed annually through adolescence. Cross-lagged panel models were conducted separately by race (56.2% AA, 43.8% EA) to identify patterns of association between alcohol use and cognitions from ages 12 to 17 in 2,173 girls.

RESULTS
Endorsement of cognitions and use was higher overall in EA than AA girls but the magnitude of cross-lagged path coefficients did not differ significantly by race. In both groups, bidirectional effects emerged between intentions and use, and alcohol use largely predicted cognitions across ages. However, intention to drink was the only alcohol-related cognition that consistently predicted subsequent use (odds ratios ranged from 1.55 to 2.71).

CONCLUSIONS
Although rates of alcohol use and endorsement of cognitions were greater in EA than AA girls, the anticipated racial differences in longitudinal associations between cognitions and use did not emerge, indicating that variation in associations between use and cognitions does not account for the lower prevalence of alcohol use in AA compared with EA girls. Furthermore, our finding that intention to drink is a consistent, robust predictor of subsequent alcohol use suggests the need to investigate potentially modifiable factors that influence intention to drink across racial groups.


In this thesis, methods for studying different aspects of proteomics were developed with Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance, (FTICR), mass spectrometry. The FTICR technique provides ultra-high mass resolving power, mass accuracy at sub ppm level and sensitivity in the attomole region.Methods for quantifying biomarkers in body fluids such as cerebrospinal fluid, (CSF), and plasma were developed. Two sets of global markers with different properties were used for quantitative analysis; S-Methyl Thioacetimidate, (SMTA), and S-Methyl Thiopropionimidate, (SMTP), and [H4]- and [D4]-1-Nicotinoyloxy succinimide ester. Reduced ion suppression and higher sensitivity was obtained by coupling a High Performance Liquid Chromatography, (HPLC), system to the FTICR mass spectrometer.In body fluids, proteins and peptides are present in a broad dynamic concentration range. Therefore, depleting abundant proteins prior to analysis results in decreased ion suppression and increased sensitivity. Two commercial depletion kits were evaluated with the SMTA- and SMTP-markers.For both types of global markers, the experimental error for quantitative analysis of abundant proteins was less than 30%. This provides a lower limit for the protein up- and down regulations in complex solutions that can be monitored with HPLC-FTICR mass spectrometry.Together with the identity and quantity of selected proteins the structure, dynamics and interactions with other molecules are of great importance. The later can be elucidated with Hydrogen/Deuterium Exchange, (HDX), mass spectrometry. Structural information at high resolution can be obtained with Collision-Induced Dissociation, (CID), HDX mass spectrometry. In this thesis, exchange rates of amide hydrogens in peptides were in excellent agreement with NMR results.In some cases, the CID-fragments have different gas-phase exchange properties and as a consequence the solution phase exchange process can not be monitored. By applying Electron Capture Dissociation, (ECD), at ultra-high vacuum, the exchange process at a specific residue could be monitored.


Germany is world champion in exporting capital ("Exportweltmeister"). No other country invests larger amounts of savings outside its borders. However, Germany plays in the third division when it comes to investment performance, as we show in this paper. We study the returns on German foreign investments from 1950 to 2017 and find that: (1) Germany's annual returns on foreign assets were 2 to 5 percentage points lower than those of comparable countries. Germany ranks last among the G7 countries, also in the last decade; (2) Domestic returns on German assets have outperformed foreign returns abroad by about 3 percentage points per year; (3) Germany's external wealth provides very little consumption insurance as foreign returns are highly correlated with domestic activity; (4) The capital exports do little to diversify demographic risks as Germany mainly invests in countries with similar demographics. Taken together, these facts raise substantial doubts whether German households, firms, and banks allocate their savings in a beneficial way.


[1] Despite numerous previous estimates of Luzon Strait transport (LST), we attempt an update using a fine-resolution model. With these improvements, the circulation in and around Luzon Strait shows up rather realistically. Intrusion of a Kuroshio meander into the South China Sea (SCS) is seasonally varying. The LST, especially in the upper ocean, caused by a small difference between the large meander inflow and outflow, is also seasonally varying and subject to large standard deviation. The annual mean LST is estimated to be westward (−4.0 ± 5.1 Sv) along 120.75°E. We have also conducted process of elimination experiments to assess the relative importance of open ocean inflow/outflow, wind stress, and surface heat flux in regulating LST and its seasonality. The East Asian monsoon winds stand out as the predominant forcing. Without it, the upper ocean LST changes from westward to eastward (ranging up to 4 Sv) and, with misaligned seasonality, triggering an inflow from the Mindoro Strait to the SCS to replenish the water mass loss. Discounting monsoon winds, sea level in the Sulu Sea is generally higher because it receives the Indonesian Throughflow before the SCS, which causes an inflow from the Sulu Sea to the SCS. On the other hand, the annual mean wind from the northeast invites outflow from the SCS to the Sulu Sea (or inflow from the Luzon Strait). Weighing the two competing factors together, we see the cessation of northeast monsoon as a condition favorable for the Luzon Strait outflow or the Mindoro Strait inflow.


To evaluate the importance of polyamines under stress conditions, mutants in the polyamine pathway were grown under salt and osmotic stress. Two types of mutant were chosen, methionine-overproducing (mto) mutants (may increase polyamine production) and arginine decarboxylase (spe) mutants (may decrease polyamine production). Initial experiments were done to determine how polyamines were to be extracted from the plant. Under normal growth conditions, the polyamine content of each mutant was similar to wild type contents. Polyamines varied in different organs of Arabidopsis with flowers having higher polyamine contents than green organs. To determine the effect of stress on the mutants, Fv/Fm (maximum photo synthetic efficiency), fresh weight, chlorophyll and polyamine contents were determined. Under salt stress, polyamine contents increased in wild type plants, but only when they were germinated on salt-containing medium, spe mutants showed a decreased tolerance to saline conditions, and the spe2-1 mutant plants also showed a decrease in polyamine accumulation compared to its wild type. Under severe salt stress, spe mutants bleached more rapidly than their wild types. Results for the effect of salt stress on the mto mutants were inconsistent. Under osmotic stress (treatment with polyethylene glycol), polyamine content decreased and no clear difference was found between the effect on mto mutants and their wild types. To isolate mutants in polyamine signalling, activation-tagged lines were screened on Murashige-Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 5 mM spermidine. Mutants that stayed green under these conditions and/or had longer roots than the wild type were isolated. The mutants were crossed to the wild type and the F2 generation was analysed for segregation on BASTA and on spermidine-containing medium. Adaptor PCR, inverse PCR and plasmid rescue were used to determine the insertion sites of the enhancer tag. One of the mutants had several T-DNA inserts, one next to a 5S rRNA gene and one in either a gene for a chloroplast nucleoid DNA-binding protein or a U2 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein. It is therefore unclear what caused the mutant phenotype. Publication: Kasinathan, V., Wingler, A. (2004) Effect of reduced arginine decarboxylase activity on salt tolerance and on polyamine formation during salt stress in Arabidopsis thaliana. Physiologia Plantarum: 121 101-107.


The reformation age evolves more or less than ten years involving some prescriptions of
development distribution with its peak remains on the determination of Act No. 32 of 2004 on
Local Government. The Act brings along fresh wind to the Regency/City to organize the
government based on decentralization, by assigning the wide, actual, and responsible authority
for the autonomy. Regarding to the distant region from the province capital, the Sesayap,
Sesayap Hilir, and Tana Lia Subdistricts in the Bulungan Regency, and Lumbis, Sembakung, and
Sebuku Subdistricts in the Nunukan Regency, take initiative to extend its region into "Tana
Tidung Regency".
Here, the author uses qualitative research with descriptive type. Research takes place at the
Bulungan Regency considering that the Bulungan Regency represents the host and address of the
author such that it facilitates the research. The observed subject includes the Presidium Head of
Court for the establishment of the Tana Tidung Regency, the Regent of the Bulungan Regency
(Host Regency), the Temporary Regent for the Tana Tidung Regency, the Head of Governmental
Issue for the Bulungan Regency (Host Regency) and public figures of Tidung Community.
Results of research on the extension process of the Tana Tidung Regency indicate that the
process goes well despite its pro and contra positions as also occurred in the other extended area.
The extension process takes five years to begin in adjusting to public interest to extend its area
into new regency called the Tana Tidung Regency. The representatives of this interest include
tradition elders such as Prince Ismail and Drs.Hasan Basri (for Sebuku Subdistrict), Prince
Kumisi (for Sembakung Subdistrict), Kausaudan (for Lumbis Subdistrict), and H. Nuh (for
Sesayap Subdistrict, but also covering Sesayap Hilir and Tana Lia Subdistricts). The public interest develops from the background of the desire of getting the better service, for instance in
health, education, and other fields, due to its remote position from the capital of regency.
Therefore, it stimulates the establishment of Presidium Team for the Establishment of The Tana
Tidung Regency (PPKTT) as the institution to accommodate and to facilitate the access to the
establishment of the Tana Tidung Regency. It initiates the struggle to realize public aspiration to
establish the Tana Tidung Regency through lobbies for the related officials in the Local
Representative Board in Bulungan and Nunukan, the regents of Bulungan and Nunukan
Regencies, Local Government of East Kalimantan Province, the Governor of East Kalimantan,
and the Minister of Internal Issue. In fact, three subdistricts in Nunukan Regency stand against
the extension. Meanwhile, the number of three has been enough to establish new regency. The
reason behind this may be that the proposition comes up based on Act No. 22 of 1999 on Local
Government. The Act mentions about the requirement of minimally three subdistricts for the
establishment of new regency. The Act has been revised into Act No.32 of 2004. The revised
regulation confirms that the new regency requires five subdistricts in minimum, and thus the
Tana Tidung Regency proposition still remains safe. Unstoppable support enters into the
government of East Kalimantan Province. At last, on July 17 of 2007, the Second Commission of
Indonesian Local Representative Board verifies the Act No. 34 of 2007 on the establishment of
the Tana Tidung Regency, and it finalizes the extension process of the Tana Tidung Regency.
Considering these results, it may be concluded that the extension into the Tana Tidung Regency
represents the public aspiration from Sesayap, Sesayap Hilir, and Tana Lia Subdistricts in the
Bulungan Regency, throughout Sembakung, Sebuku and Lumbis Subdistricts in the Nunukan
Regency, in order to gain better development in the public service, education, health and other
fields due to its remote position from the regency capital and to the inefficient governmental
service to the public. Amid the extension process for the Tana Tidung Regency, three subdistricts
in the Nunukan Regency refuse to join. Taking account these conclusions, research gives some
recommendations that:
1. The extension into autonomous area of the Tana Tidung Regency seems important to be
followed by preparing the supporting structures such as governmental, economic, social, human
resource and financial facilitates, and other infrastructures demanded by a newly autonomous
area.
2. The improvement of upland facility and infrastructure should be important to afford recently
inaccessible area. The expansion of transportation infrastructure must be considered because of
many isolated places with its yet unexploited potential.


Abstract Argentina's G20 presidency has emphasized the need to improve soil management and sustainably increase agricultural productivity to achieve an inclusive and resilient food future. While increased agricultural productivity can improve economic welfare and help address food security problems by benefiting both consumers and producers simultaneously, it also must address the depletion of already scarce natural resources. In the context of a changing climate, sustainable and resilient agricultural production forms a major cornerstone of both adaptation and mitigation strategies. The global community needs to have the proper tools with which to monitor sustainable agricultural productivity gains, identify countries and sectors lagging behind, and commit R&D efforts accordingly to address the challenges ahead. As such, it is suggested that 1) an international consortium should monitor agricultural total factor productivity (TFP) to provide international comparisons and track performance over time; 2) the G20 should acknowledge and address the issue of sustainable productivity measurement, and; 3) the G20 should support more in-depth research into the relationship between agricultural TFP and agricultural R&D.


Two new genera and five new species of Selachinematidae are described from the New Zealand upper continental slope (350-1240 m depth). Synonchiella rotundicauda sp. nov. is characterised by cephalic setae 0.25 cbd long, mandibles each with two pairs of hooks and two wing-like projections laterally, eight cup-shaped pre-cloacal supplements and short rounded tail. Pseudocheironchus gen. nov. is similar to Cheironchus , but differs from the latter in having a cuticle without lateral differentiation, cephalic setae only slightly longer than the outer labial sensillae, and a posterior buccal cavity with three equal mandibles. Pseudocheironchus ingluviosus gen. et sp. nov. is characterised by mandibles with eight blunt teeth, multispiral amphideal fovea with five turns, and a short rounded tail. Males of this new species with 17-19 cup-shaped pre-cloacal supplements. Males of the genus Cobbionema are described for the first time; C. trigamma sp. nov. is characterised by four long cephalic setae and six smaller outer labial setae in one circle, six rhabdions surrounding the anterior buccal cavity, each with two pairs of pointed projections at their posterior extremities, posterior buccal cavity widening posteriorly, with three pairs of rhabdions fused posteriorly and widening anteriorly, males with two testes pointing anteriorly and with reflexed posterior testis, and no pre-cloacal supplements. Gammanema agglutinans sp. nov. is characterised by a short, stout body often covered in adhering mucus and detritus, cuticle with minute spines, leaf-shaped somatic setae with ducts, sexual dimorphism in the shape of the amphideal fovea (loop-shaped in males and spiral in females), posterior buccal cavity with three pairs of broad, column-shaped rhabdions fused anteriorly, intestine cells with orange-brown granules, and small tubular pre-cloacal supplements. Bendiella gen. nov. is most similar to Halichoanolaimus , but differs from the latter, and all other genera of the family Selachinematidae, in having a cuticle with lateral differentiation consisting of longitudinal rows of larger dots, and from all other genera of the Choniolaiminae in lacking pre-cloacal supplements. Bendiella thalassa gen. et sp. nov. is characterised by amphideal fovea with 5.25 turns, anterior buccal cavity with twelve rhabdions, each with a pair of pointed projections at posterior extremity, posterior buccal cavity with three Y-shaped pairs of slender rhabdions fused from two thirds of distance from anterior ends, and conico-cylindrical tail.


Editor's note: As part of our 50th volume celebrations, Medical Education is looking back at its most impactful articles, as defined by citation count. The most cited articles from each 5-year interval were identified and the original authors of one of them (or other knowledgeable scholars if the original authors could not be found) were asked to comment on the state of the field at the time of publication, the impact of the article, and what we have learned since then. The article illustrated in Figure 1 was one of the most cited articles in our journal in the 1977–1981 period. To see the other top-cited articles from Volumes 1–50, please view the interactive PDF by visiting www.mededuc.com.


This is the first full biography of the pioneering black collector whose detective work laid the foundation for the study of black history and culture. Born in Puerto Rico in 1874, Arthur Alfonso Schomburg came to New York militantly active in Caribbean revolutionary struggles. He searched out the hidden records of the black experience and built a collection of books, manuscripts, and art that had few rivals. Today it forms the core of the New York Public Library's Schomburg Center for research in Black Culture, one of the leading collections in the field.At the center of the Harlem Renaissance, Schomburg was a generous friend of many of the writers, artists, performers, collectors, scholars, and political figures who made Harlem the capital of Black America. A contributor to the major black journals of the period, he went on to head the Negro Collection at Fisk University and became curator of his own collection in the New York Public Library until his death in 1938.


Public transportation represents a complex service system, which is based on "value-co-production" configuration. Value-co-production configuration involves "…people, technology, other internal and external service systems, and shared information" (Spohrer et al., 2007, p. 2). To fulfil the goals of a sustainable Public transit, innovations should focus the way value is created. The value configuration space (Gebauer et al., 2010; Johnson et al., 2010) is conceptualized consisting of two parties ("customer" and "provider"), who are both resource integrators and beneficiaries in the value configuration space. Both are involved in actor networks (or service systems). Service systems are related to value networks where the value creation relies on resource integration across a value network consisting of firm, network, partners, and customers (Vargo and Lusch, 2008; Edvardsson, et al., 2010). The networks form service systems that survive, adapt, and evolve through exchange and application of resources. Stabell and Fjeldstad (1998) offer another abstraction of value configuration. They have applied the value configuration concept to understand and analyze the firm-level value creation logics across a broad range of industries and firms by exploring the value chain, the value shop, and the value network through mediating technology. The mediating technology delivers value by transforming inputs into products. The value is delivered by resolving unique customer problems by enabling direct and indirect exchanges between customers (ibid). The aim of this paper is to apply the conceptualization of value-configuration spaces to understand the context of public transit services in a complex service system through different public transit cases. Public transit services in the urban regions of developed countries (Zurich in Switzerland, Hamburg in Germany, and Stockholm in Sweden) and newly-industrialized countries (Cape Town in South Africa, Jakarta in Indonesia and Bogota Guangzhou in China). Despite the importance of sustainable public transit services, existing research does not fully explore how complex service systems drive innovation and value-configuration-spaces; to achieving more sustainable public transit services as a key issue. We are looking for innovative ways to combine service systems and value-configuration spaces; such research in fact substantiates the existing value-configuration-space. The variation in maturity of these different cases allows us to develop a process model of value configuration spaces that assesses social force. To further embrace these ideas, this paper lays the foundation for enriching the logic of sustainability and value-configuration spaces theories. It extends research on value-configuration spaces. The remainder of the article is organized as follows. The next section presents our conceptual framework. This consists of sub-sections on sustainability and innovation, value creation, value configuration spaces, and the value network. The article continues by applying these four key concepts to our empirical setting based on multiple public transit service networks in Europe. The article concludes with a summary of the main contributions and limitations of the study and directions for future research.


Shame is a puzzling emotion. On the one hand, to feel ashamed is to feel badly about oneself; but on the other hand, it also seems to be a response to the way the subject is perceived by other people. So whose standards is the subject worried about falling short of, his own or those of an audience? I begin by arguing that it is the audience's standards that matter, and then present a theory of shame according to which shame is a response to the subject's perception that he is not thought of in the way he intrinsically values himself for being thought of by someone else.

Then I go on to suggest some refinements to this basic view. First, the subject of shame is primarily concerned about his audience's attitudes toward him, not what they believe about him. And second, there may be one particular attitude which he values himself for inspiring. There is no very perspicuous term for this attitude, so I call it 'proto-respect' – the attitude a social animal directs toward those it regards as valuable allies or bad enemies.


background Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are extracellular zinc-dependent endopeptidases involved in breakdown and remodelling of extracellular matrix in physiological and pathological processes. MMPs have also a role on cell proliferation, migration, differentiation, angiogenesis and apoptosis. Umbilical cord is a special organ subjected to many changes during pre-natal life and whose cells can maintain a certain degree of plasticity also in post-natal period; for example recently they have been used as a source of stem cells. For these reasons we believe it is interesting to investigate the expression of some remodelling enzymes in this tissue. Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial cells (HUVEC) have shown to be endowed with an high degree of plasticity; they have the potentiality to differentiate into different cell types and can be considered one of the territories of umbilical cord more dynamic and involved in remodelling/renewal phenomena, for this reason we decided to extend our research investigating the expression of MMPs also in these cells. Aim In this study we investigated by immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR the expression of the gelatinases MMP-2 and MMP-9, the collagenases MMP-8 and MMP-13 and the stromelysin MMP-3 and MMP-10 in the whole human umbilical cord and in HUVEC. Results MMP-2 protein is expressed in the amniotic epithelium of human umbilical cord and in few sub-epithelial fibroblasts, while MMP-3 and MMP-10 only in the umbilical epithelium. MMP-8, MMP-9 and MMP-13 immunoreactivity is localised in the epithelium and in Wharton's jelly mesenchymal cells. Immunohistochemistry also revealed protein expression for MMP-2, 3, 8, 9 and 10 in cultured Human Umbilical cord Vein Endothelial Cells. In agreement with immunohistochemical data, RT-PCR analysis performed on samples of whole umbilical cord confirmed the transcriptional expression for the genes encoding all the six matrix metalloproteinases investigated, while in HUVEC cells only the expression of MMP-2, 3, 9, 10 and 13 mRNAs was detected.


Gender gap is a general outcome of financial literacy surveys, which also highlight that differences among men and women in the domain of financial capability are irrespective of country differences. However, when considering the young and, particularly, college students, empirical results are rather mixed. Further research is therefore needed on the factors explaining the young's financial literacy; our study contributes to the literature investigating a homogeneous sample of freshmen of the same age and cohort enrolled in a large Italian Business School, where ex ante gender differences should not be expected. We deliberately concentrate on a sample of business students, i.e., a homogeneous sample of the youth population expected to exhibit a similar personal interest in economic and financial matters. No gender gap was found either considering an overall measure of financial literacy (Rasch measure) or considering the overall difficulty of the instrument (Differential Item Functioning). We argue that personal interests in financial matters overcome potential gender issues in financial literacy.


Extensive literature exists regarding recommendations for lane widths, merging tapers, and work zone geometry to provide safe and efficient traffic operations. However, it is often infeasible or unsafe for inspectors to check these geometric features in a freeway work zone. This paper discusses the integration of LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging)-generated geometric data with connected vehicle speed data to evaluate the impact of work zone geometry on traffic operations. Connected vehicle speed data can be used at both a system-wide (statewide) or segment-level view to identify periods of congestion and queueing. Examples of regional trends, localized incidents, and recurring bottlenecks are shown in the data in this paper. A LiDAR-mounted vehicle was deployed to a variety of work zones where recurring bottlenecks were identified to collect geometric data. In total, 350 directional miles were covered, resulting in approximately 360 GB of data. Two case studies, where geometric anomalies were identified, are discussed in this paper: a short segment with a narrow lane width of 10–10.5 feet and a merging taper that was about 200 feet shorter than recommended by the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. In both case studies, these work zone features did not conform to project specifications but were difficult to assess safely by an inspector in the field because of the high volume of traffic. The paper concludes by recommending the use of connected vehicle data to systematically identify work zones with recurring congestion and the use of LiDAR to assess work zone geometrics.


The aim of this study was to investigate the current and ideal situations of the process of talent identification in Iranian football from the point of view of Iranian instructors of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). This research was a descriptiveanalytical study; in data collection phase a questionnaire was used, whose face validity was confirmed by experts of Physical Education and Sports Science. The reliability of questionnaire was estimated through the use of Cronbach's alpha method (0.91). This study involved 122 participants of Iranian instructors of the AFC who were selected based on stratified random sampling method. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the variables and inferential statistics (Chi-square) were used to test the hypotheses of the study at significant level (p ≤ 0.05). The results of Chi-square test related to the point of view of Iranian instructors of the AFC showed that the grass-roots scientific method was the best way to identify football players (0.001), less than 10 years old were the best ages for talent identification (0.001), the Football Federation was revealed to be the most important organization in talent identification (0.002), clubs were shown to be the most important institution in developing talents (0.001), trained scouts of Football Federation were demonstrated to be the best and most appropriate group for talent identification (0.001), and being referred by the football academy coaches was shown to be the best way to attract talented football players in Iran (0.001). It was also found that there was a huge difference between the current and ideal situation of the process of talent identification in Iranian football from the point of view of Iranian instructors of the AFC. Hence, it is recommended that the policy makers of talent identification for Iranian football provide a comprehensive, clear and systematic model of talent identification and development processes for the clubs and football teams, so that the talent identification process helps to nurture football talents more efficiently. Keywords—Current situation, talent finding, ideal situation, instructors,.


The genus Eurylophella includes nine species from eastern North America, one from western North America, and three from Europe. We examined 18 polymorphic enzyme loci in 82 populations (>2,000 individuals) of Eurylophella from 40 localities in eastern North America, representing eight of the nine currently recognized eastern species. Our data suggest that Eurylophella is actually represented by at least 15 species in eastern North America, some of which cannot be resolved morphologically. Although intraspecific comparisons revealed significant geographic variation in allele frequencies, there were no fixed allelic differences between populations. In contrast, most interspecific comparisons were characterized by the lack of shared alleles at several loci. Thus, >99% of the individuals studied could be sorted to species by electromorph characteristics. The average Nei's genetic distance ( D ) was 0.02 (range = 0-0.12) between conspecific populations and 0.74 (range = 0.11-1.87) between species. A phenogram generated from D values shows five groups of species branching at D < 0.60:

• E. verisimilis, E. verisimilis-A, E. verisimilis-B, E. verisimilis-C, E. bicolor, E. minimella, E. prudentalis, E. aestiva , and E. aestiva-A;

• E. temporalis-A, E. temporalis-B , and E. temporalis-C;

• E. sp. 1;

• E. funeralis; and

• E. lutulenta. Interspecific D values for Eurylophella were in the upper range of reported literature values for congeneric insect species, a fact that supports the recent elevation of Eurylophella from subgeneric to generic status. Expected heterozygosities ranged from 0.03 to 0.21; those of most species averaged 0.10-0.12.


The mode coupling in multimode fiber Bragg gratings (MMFBGs) is analyzed by using the coupled-mode theory. The reflection spectra of MMFBGs excited by one mode and two modes are simulated. The results of the calculation show that MMFBGs have multiple reflection peaks due to the coupling between the same modes in counter-propagating direction and the coupling between the adjacent modes in counter-propagating direction, and the spectra depend on excitation conditions of the bounded modes, such as mode power and mode number.


The purpose of the study is to determine the existing growth models of the countries of the Eurasian Union by GDP expenditures and sectors (manufacturing, transactional raw materials). The research methodology is a macroeconomic analysis of the dynamics of the main indicator of economic development — gross domestic product. The research method is a structural analysis that allows you to get a structural formula for calculating the contribution of each component of GDP to the growth rate, as well as a comparative analysis of the dynamics models of the countries in question — Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia. The result of the study is the obtained structural relationships that make it possible to measure the influence of the investment structure on the growth rate, the criteria describing economic growth with a corresponding change in the country's national wealth, as well as the identification of models of economic dynamics by the countries of the Eurasian Union. It is indicative that the transaction sector dominates in Kazakhstan and Russia, while in other countries a mixed model is found, or industrial growth as in Belarus. According to the components of GDP and expenditures of the country, either a mixed or a consumer model is found (Kyrgyzstan, Russia), however, the contribution of government spending to the growth rate is provided only in Kazakhstan. It was also revealed that the reaction to the crisis of 2009 and 2015 was fundamentally different for the countries of the Eurasian Union. The search for the factor conditions of such a prevailing dynamics, as well as the influence of union economic relations on the formation of a growth model in each country, requires an expansion of research and an analytical perspective


The goal of this study is to introduce an Asymmetric Uniform-Laplace (AUL) distribution. We present a detailed theoretical description of this distribution. We try to estimate the parameters of AUL distribution using the maximum likelihood method. Since the likelihood approach results in complicated forms, we suggest a bootstrapbased approach for estimating the parameters. The proposed method is mainly based on the shape of the empirical density. We conduct a simulation study to assess the performance of the proposed procedure. We also fit the AUL distribution to real data sets: daily working time and Pontius data sets. The results show that AUL distribution is a more appropriate choice than the Skew-Normal, Skew t, Asymmetric Laplace and Uniform-Normal distributions.


Background While the requirement for thresholds for testing for mutations in BRCA1/2 is being questioned, they are likely to remain for individuals unaffected by a relevant cancer. It is still useful to provide pretesting likelihoods, but models need to take into account tumour pathology. Methods The Manchester Scoring System (MSS) is a well-used, simple, paper-based model for assessing carrier probability that already incorporates pathology data. We have used mutation testing data from 4115 unrelated samples from affected non-Jewish individuals alongside tumour pathology to further refine the scoring system. Results Adding additional points for high-grade serous ovarian cancer <60 (HGSOC=+2) and adding grade score to those with triple-negative breast cancer, while reducing the score for those with HER2+ breast cancer (−6), resulted in significantly improved sensitivity and minor improvements in specificity to the MSS. Sporadic HGSOC <60 years thus reached a score of 15–19 points within the 10% grouping consistent with the 15/113–13.2% that were identified with a BRCA1/2 pathogenic variant. Validation in a population series of ovarian cancer from Cambridge showed high sensitivity at the 10% threshold 15/17 (88.2%). Conclusions The new pathology-adjusted Manchester score MSS3 appears to provide an effective and simple-to-use estimate of the 10% and 20% thresholds for BRCA1/2 likelihood. For unaffected individuals, the 20-point (20%) threshold in their affected first-degree relative can be used to determine eligibility at the 10% threshold.


Aims This study was undertaken to identify whether parents and carers of children undergoing day-case surgery are able to read and understand the dosing instructions supplied with general sales list (GSL) packs of paracetamol and ibuprofen suspension. Methods Over a 4 week period (January to February 2012) caregivers of children aged 6 months to 8 years attending the daycase surgery ward of a UK children's hospital were approached to participate in this study. Those who agreed to participate were randomised to be interviewed about paracetamol or ibuprofen by tossing a coin. They were provided with the appropriate GSL pack of analgesic suspension, asked 14 questions and then requested to demonstrate the dose of suspension they would measure for their child. Recommendations based on the findings were then shared with nursing staff who routinely provide GSL packs to caregivers following day-case surgery. Results 110 caregivers were approached to participate in the study. 73 agreed and were randomised to be interviewed about paracetamol (41) or ibuprofen (32). One caregiver randomised to answer questions about ibuprofen was excluded due to a contraindication to the use of ibuprofen in their child. Eleven (15.1%) caregivers were unable to correctly identify the appropriate dose of paracetamol or ibuprofen for their child and 12 (16.4%) suggested an incorrect interval between doses. Once the appropriate dose was established, 67 (91.8%) were able to accurately measure the correct amount using the medicine spoon provided with the pack. Caregivers were asked when they would give the next dose if their child received a dose at 9:00 h. 12 (16.4%) were not able to identify the right time with answers ranging between 2–8 h following the initial dose. When caregivers were asked about what action they would take if their child experienced pain 2 h after giving a dose of analgesic, 10 (13.7%) stated they would give another dose immediately, 35 (47.9%) said they would wait for 4 h and 28 (38.4%) stated they would give an alternative analgesic. Conclusions This study has shown that although the majority of caregivers understand the dosing instructions included in GSL packs of Paracetamol and Ibuprofen suspension, at least 1 in 8 caregivers are not able to interpret the information provided in order to use these products optimally for their children. This study did not evaluate whether patient information for different brands of analgesics was easier to use but the need for understandable information about simple analgesics is vitally important to ensure these drugs are used safely and effectively in children.


This research furthers our understanding of the interaction between the fields of entrepreneurship and family business. It presents a framework that introduces the family dynamic to Timmons' driving forces model of entrepreneurship. The framework highlights the influence of the family in the entrepreneurship process and the importance of the fit among the three driving forces and the family. It highlights the importance of, and the pivotal roles played by, outside boards of directors when entrepreneurial activities are undertaken by family businesses. Using extracts from interviews with family and non‐family executives and board members, the research employs a single case study that describes an actual series of events to provide a practical application of the theory.


Earthquakes are the most frequently occurring natural disaster around the world and it is associated with a large outpouring of humanitarian assistance from the world. Existing models for humanitarian non-governmental organizations (NGO) focus on a variety of preparation and response decisions for aid distribution, but tend not to discuss medical rescue teams responding to international disasters and where they would fit into. Aim The aim of this study was to explore the preparedness of South African Non-Governmental Organisation relief teams for international earthquake response. The ultimate aim was to develop a framework for SA NGO teams responding to international earthquake disasters. Methods This qualitative study made use of a range of data collection tools including documentary sources and interviews, so that it could illuminate the study from all sides and to ensure all relevant data from people and organisations that span the globe could be collected. Conclusion and recommendations The result of the study was a conceptual map of the study recommendations which can be used in the development of a framework for improving South African NGO relief teams" response efficiency and effectiveness to international earthquake disasters. The research concludes with a series of recommendations which include: assigning the teams under a leading international academic and operational body and to identify qualified, well prepared and professional personnel on a database for rapid deployment.


The authors who contributed to this issue of Healthcare Papers have provided rich insights into a promising innovation agenda to support transformational change aimed at achieving high-performing, person-centric health systems that are sustainable and deliver value. First and foremost, the commentaries make clear that a focused innovation agenda with defined goals, objectives and milestones is needed, if innovation is to be a viable and successful strategy to achieve health system transformation. To date, innovation has been a catch-all term for solving the many challenges health systems are experiencing. Yet, innovation on its own cannot fix all the ills of a health system; strategic goals and objectives are needed to define the way forward if innovation is to achieve value for Canadians. To this end, the authors identify goals and objectives that are worthy of serious consideration by all health system stakeholders.


The nonlinear intensity response of a digital fringe-projection-profilometry (FPP) system causes the captured fringe patterns to be nonsinusoidal waveforms, which results in phase error and therefore measurement error. The theoretical analysis of the phase error due to the nonsinusoidal waveforms in Hilbert transform FPP is performed. Based on the derived phase-error expression, a cubic spline-smoothing method is proposed to eliminate the nonsinusoidal phase error. Experiments show that the proposed algorithm can be used for effective phase-error elimination in practical Hilbert transform FPP.


Human involucrin (hINV) is a keratinocyte differentiation marker expressed in the suprabasal epidermal layers. In cultured keratinocytes hINV mRNA levels are increased 10-fold by a 24-h treatment with 50 ng/ml PMA, an agent that promotes keratinocyte differentiation. Previous studies show that thapsigargin (TGN), an agent that depletes intracellular calcium stores, inhibits keratinocyte differentiation. In the present study we show that TGN inhibits the PMA-dependent, differentiation-associated, increase in hINV mRNA levels and hINV promoter activity. Inhibition is half-maximal at 10 nM and maximal at 100 nM TGN. Neither basal hINV promoter activity nor glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase mRNA levels are inhibited. Mutation of a functionally important CAATT-enhancer-binding protein (C/EBP) site within the hINV promoter proximal regulatory region eliminates the regulation, suggesting that TGN may effect C/EBP-dependent promoter activation. Consistent with this hypothesis, TGN inhibits C/EBPalpha-dependent promoter activation via a mechanism that involves inhibition of C/EBPalpha binding to DNA without changing C/EBPalpha protein levels. These results suggest that TGN interferes with hINV expression by interfering with C/EBP transcription-factor function.


This paper investigates the effects of competing communication networks on trade patterns in a Chamberlinian-Ricardian model of monopolistically competitive firms with a continuum of industries that require communication services in production. We conclude that intraindustry trade between different networks is determined by the relative size of networks and technological differences, and that a network will not have an incentive to expand indefinitely, despite network externalities.


This article explains theoretically, and demonstrates empirically, the instrumental role of the balance of capabilities in shaping the form of warfare that develops in civil wars. It contends that the current common practice of labelling civil wars as either 'guerrilla' or 'conventional' (which is usually meant to accurately characterise the type of warfare throughout an entire civil war) is unable to fully encapsulate the dynamic nature of warfare in civil war. It is instead argued that the form of warfare frequently varies significantly across time and space in a single conflict. This article is divided into three sections. Section one examines recent advances in the understanding of warfare in civil wars. It identifies three categories of warfare in civil war: conventional, guerrilla and irregular. Section two builds on previous studies to develop the concept of the balance of capabilities. Finally, the article illustrates these theoretical insights through a discussion of the American and Somali Civil Wars.


Size relationships between fish and organisms from adjacent trophic levels are crucial for predicting the structure and dynamics of aquatic ecosystems. We compared macroinvertebrate communities along a fish-size gradient created by separate stocking of three age cohorts of common carp Cyprinus carpio in semi-natural ponds. The specific size range of fish (small, medium and large) corresponding to fish age in ponds was the factor most strongly associated with macroinvertebrate composition. The other significant habitat variables were dissolved oxygen concentration in the water and submerged vegetation abundance in the open-water zone. Among the most numerous taxa in the ponds, relative abundances of Hirudinea, Gastropoda, Odonata and Coleoptera were larger in the presence of small-sized than of larger-sized carp. However, fish size effect was not linear, in that macroinvertebrate assemblages were less similar between ponds containing medium- vs large-sized fish than between ponds with small- vs large-sized fish. The dissimilarity patterns were mainly determined by disparities in abundance of Corixidae, which unlike other taxa common in the ponds occurred in the greatest numbers in the presence of large-sized carp. Macroinvertebrate diversity was greatest in ponds with small-sized fish and was positively related to emergent macrophyte cover. Enhancement of emergent vegetation is recommended as the most effective management strategy to buffer adverse impacts of fish on macroinvertebrates. If fish are present in the system, assessment of the size structure of fish populations can be advantageous in unravelling the essential processes driving the variation in pond communities.


Objective: To assess the predictive performance of Acute Physiologic and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) software available on the hospital intranet and analyze interrater reliability of calculating the APACHE II score by the gold standard manual method or automatically using the software. Materials and Methods: An expert scorer not involved in the data collection had calculated APACHE II score of 213 patients admitted to surgical Intensive Care Unit using the gold standard manual method for a previous study performed in the department. The same data were entered into the computer software available on the hospital intranet (http://intranet/apacheii) to recalculate the APACHE II score automatically along with the predicted mortality. Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC), Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit statistical test and Pearson′s correlation coefficient was computed. Results: The 213 patients had an average APACHE II score of 17.20 ± 8.24, the overall mortality rate was 32.8% and standardized mortality ratio was 1.00. The area under the ROC curve of 0.827 was significantly >0.5 (P < 0.01) and had confidence interval of 0.77-0.88. The goodness-of-fit test showed a good calibration (H = 5.46, P = 0.71). Interrater reliability using Pearson′s product moment correlations demonstrated a strong positive relationship between the computer and the manual expert scorer (r = 0.98, P = 0.0005). Conclusion: APACHE II software available on the hospital′s intranet has satisfactory calibration and discrimination and interrater reliability is good when compared with the gold standard manual method.


Strategic change, infused with new data, perspectives and concepts may change the inherent meaning of the central tenets in an existing strategy. It taps into the cognitive aspects of a journey where language, in verbal and written form, aids in the process of communicating, understanding and creating new meaning. Hence, it comes as no surprise that communication is argued to be an important means of forming and executing strategy, particularly if that strategy involves change. Thus far corporate communication has been the objective of extensive and predominately qualitative analysis of written content, with a focus on identifying and demonstrating strategic intent or reorientation. The objective here is to take a different route, not yet explored in the field of strategic management and change. Leaning on a previously conducted, longitudinal and qualitative case study of strategic change the aim is twofold: Firstly, to propose a method for quantitative analysis of semantic content of texts and statistically test the semantic development over time in the same case. Secondly, to evaluate and discuss the results of a quantitative semantic analysis in relation to previous and qualitative findings. By applying latent semantic analysis (LSA), we quantified the semantic content of annual reports and press releases between 2001 and 2010, derived from a case study of one company in the paper packaging industry. Using this method, we statistically analysed significant changes in semantic content across the ten-year time period studied. The results indicate interesting avenues for continued and wider use of quantitative semantic analysis in contributing to the understanding of semantic development and strategic change.


The past few decades have seen a considerable increase in caesarean section rates, which have now reached unprecedented levels. Concerns have been raised about the possibility of medically unnecessary procedures having negative consequences for mothers and infants (WHO, 2015). The aim of this report is to show that a properly implemented hospital-level policy may be a powerful tool for reducing the rates of unnecessary C-sections without inflicting harm on mothers or newborns. Reducing the rates of unnecessary procedures helps lower the excessive healthcare costs that present a major concern for public policy. This report analyzes the implications of a 2005 reform introduced in the Italian region of Piedmont that increased malpractice pressure and reduced C-section rates. Empirical evidence indicates that this reform led to a 2.3 percentage point (approximately seven percent at the mean of C-sections) reduction in the use of C-sections in treated hospitals. This suggests that physicians will also alter their behavior in response to hospital-level policies - even though such policies do not directly influence individual insurance liability. Presuming that C-section rates in Germany are partially influenced by economic and legal incentives, the Italian findings imply that increased malpractice pressure may also reduce the C-section rates in Germany, which currently exceed 30 percent - a share that is ten points higher than it was in the early 2000s. Should Germany implement a similar reform to the one introduced in Piedmont, one might expect positive effects in terms of reducing healthcare costs without affecting healthcare outcomes. This expectation presumes that there are a sufficient number of practitioners who can competently assist in a natural delivery.


With the rapid development of computer, artificial intelligence and big data technology, artificial neural networks have become one of the most powerful machine learning algorithms. In the practice, most of the applications of artificial neural networks use back propagation neural network and its variation. Besides the back propagation neural network, various neural networks have been developing in order to improve the performance of standard models. Though neural networks are well known method in the research of real estate, there is enormous space for future research in order to enhance their function. Some scholars combine genetic algorithm, geospatial information, support vector machine model, particle swarm optimization with artificial neural networks to appraise the real estate, which is helpful for the existing appraisal technology. The mass appraisal of real estate in this paper includes the real estate valuation in the transaction and the tax base valuation in the real estate holding. In this study we focus on the theoretical development of artificial neural networks and mass appraisal of real estate, artificial neural networks model evolution and algorithm improvement, artificial neural networks practice and application, and review the existing literature about artificial neural networks and mass appraisal of real estate. Finally, we provide some suggestions for the mass appraisal of China's real estate.


Quantum mechanics is a hugely important topic in science and engineering, but many students struggle to understand the abstract mathematical techniques used to solve the Schrödinger equation and to analyze the resulting wave functions. Retaining the popular approach used in Fleisch's other Student's Guides, this friendly resource uses plain language to provide detailed explanations of the fundamental concepts and mathematical techniques underlying the Schrödinger equation in quantum mechanics. It addresses in a clear and intuitive way the problems students find most troublesome. Each chapter includes several homework problems with fully worked solutions. A companion website hosts additional resources, including a helpful glossary, Matlab code for creating key simulations, revision quizzes and a series of videos in which the author explains the most important concepts from each section of the book.


The primary aim of this project was to develop novel anatomically realistic renal phantoms for the evaluation of current and emerging ultrasound techniques capable of diagnosing all grades of renal artery stenosis. Renal artery stenosis is considered the most common cause of potentially curable secondary hypertension which if left untreated can lead to renal failure. Its early detection is very important as it offers the possibility of various drug treatments, which are considerably less invasive and poses less risk to the patient. Computer-aided modelling techniques were used to generate a range of anatomically realistic phantoms of the renal artery from medical images of a 64-slice CT scan which was acquired from a healthy volunteer with normal renal vasculature. These phantoms comprised of a normal healthy vessel and vessels with increasing stenosis (30%, 50% 70% and 85%). Using these novel phantoms a comparative study between four of the imaging techniques currently used to detect renal artery stenosis (ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography and digital subtraction angiography (DSA)) was carried out. A novel kidney perfusion phantom was also developed with the ability to achieve flow velocities comparable with those found in the blood vessels of the renal macrocirculation (renal artery and renal vein) and microcirculation (kidney). By developing an understanding of disease progression in the renal artery and kidney through experimentation, it is possible to improve the outcome of various treatment regimes by early detection of the disease. Recent and ongoing ultrasound technological developments such as ultrasound contrast agents should render accessible the technically more challenging imaging of the renal artery and kidneys and potentially replace invasive intra-arterial DSA technique.


A statistical–dynamical study was performed on the role of hydrometeorological interactions in the midlatitudes and the semiarid Tropics. For this, observations from two field experiments, the First International Satellite Land Surface Climatology Project Field Experiment (FIFE) and the Hydrological Atmospheric Pilot Experiment (HAPEX)–Sahel, representative of the midlatitudes and the semiarid tropical conditions, and simulated results from a land surface model, Simplified Simple Biosphere (SSiB) model were statistically analyzed for direct and interaction effects. The study objectives were to test the hypothesis that there are significant differences in the land surface processes in the semiarid tropical and midlatitudinal regimes and to identify the nature of the differences in the evapotranspiration exchanges for the two biogeographical domains. Results suggest there are similarities in the direct responses but the interactions or the indirect feedback pathways could be very different. The arid tropical regimes are dominated through vegetative pathways (via variables such leaf area index, stomatal resistance, and vegetal cover); the midlatitudes show soil wetness (moisture)–related feedback. In addition, for the midlatitudinal case, the vegetation and the soil surface acted in unison, leading to more interactive exchanges between the vegetation and the soil surface. The water-stressed semiarid tropical surface, on the other hand, showed response either directly between the vegetation and the atmosphere or between the soil and the atmosphere with very little interaction between the vegetation and the soil variables. Thus, the semiarid Tropics would require explicit bare ground and vegetation fluxes consideration, whereas the effective (combined vegetation and soil fluxes) surface representation used in various models may be more valid for the midlatitudinal case. This result also implied that with higher resource (water) availability the surface invested more in the surrounding environment. On the other hand, with poor resource availability (such as water stress in the tropical site), the surface components retain individual resources without sharing.


Although Francesco Petrarca (1304-1374) is best known today for his Italian poetry, he was also a philosopher, historian, orator, and one of the foremost classical scholars of his age. "Petrarch: A Critical Guide to the Complete Works" is the only comprehensive, single-volume source to which anyone - scholar, student, or general reader - can turn for information on each of Petrarch's works, its place in the poet's oeuvre, and a critical exposition of its defining features. A sophisticated but accessible handbook that illuminates Petrarch's love of classical culture, his devout Christianity, his public celebrity, and his struggle for inner peace, this encyclopedic volume covers both Petrarch's Italian and Latin writings and the various genres in which he excelled: poem, tract, dialogue, oration, and letter. A biographical introduction and chronology anchor the book, making Petrarch an invaluable resource for specialists in Italian, comparative literature, history, classics, religious studies, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance.


The study examined the factors that affect students' academic achievement in Zimbabwe's rural Secondary Schools with Marimasimbe Secondary School (Gokwe South – Midlands Province) taken as a case study. The research adopted a case study methodology and the population sample was drawn from teachers, Form 3 and Form 4 students and parents in the native area. The study used maximum variation sampling for sample selection. Data was gathered through participant-observations, questionnaires, focus group interviews and documents review. The data was analyzed through graphs and simple numbers. The results show that the type of school leadership by the head, career guidance, teacher-pupil ratio, qualified and dedicated teachers as well as discipline and order are the major internal factors affecting students' academic achievement. The identified external factors are family socioeconomic status, school-community relations, distance or proximity to the school and witchcraft practices. Other findings are that boys perform better than girls at ordinary level. The researcher recommends creation of conducive school environment by school heads, taking career guidance more seriously, employment of adequate qualified teachers who are dedicated to their work, maintaining discipline and order by both parents and teachers among others.


In this research work, an energy approach is employed for assessing quality in dynamic soil-structure interaction (SSI) models, and energy measures are introduced and investigated as general indicators of structural response.
Dynamic SSI models with various abstraction levels are then investigated according to different coupling scenarios for soil and structure models.
The hypothesis of increasing model uncertainty with decreasing complexity is investigated and a mathematical framework is provided for the treatment of model uncertainty. This framework is applied to a case study involving alternative models for incorporating dynamic SSI effects. In the evaluation process, energy measures are used within the framework of the \textit{adjustment factor} approach in order to quantitatively assess the uncertainty associated with SSI models. Two primary types of uncertainty are considered, namely the uncertainty in the model framework and the uncertainty in the model input parameters.
Investigations on model framework uncertainty show that the more complex three-dimensional FE model has the best quality of the models investigated, whereas the Wolf SSI model produces the lowest model uncertainty of the simpler models. The fixed-base model produces the highest estimated uncertainty and accordingly the worst quality of all models investigated.
These results confirm the hypothesis of increasing model uncertainty with decreasing complexity only when the assessment is based on the ratio of structural hysteretic energy to input energy as a response indicator.


Elastic storage systems can be expanded or contracted to meet current demand, allowing servers to be turned off or used for other tasks. However, the usefulness of an elastic distributed storage system is limited by its agility: how quickly it can increase or decrease its number of servers. Due to the large amount of data they must migrate during elastic resizing, state of the art designs usually have to make painful trade-offs among performance, elasticity, and agility.
 This article describes the state of the art in elastic storage and a new system, called SpringFS, that can quickly change its number of active servers, while retaining elasticity and performance goals. SpringFS uses a novel technique, termed bounded write offloading, that restricts the set of servers where writes to overloaded servers are redirected. This technique, combined with the read offloading and passive migration policies used in SpringFS, minimizes the work needed before deactivation or activation of servers. Analysis of real-world traces from Hadoop deployments at Facebook and various Cloudera customers and experiments with the SpringFS prototype confirm SpringFS's agility, show that it reduces the amount of data migrated for elastic resizing by up to two orders of magnitude, and show that it cuts the percentage of active servers required by 67--82%, outdoing state-of-the-art designs by 6--120%.