To the Editor: Isolated in 1947 from a rhesus monkey in Zika forest, Uganda, Zika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus (1). For half a century, ZIKV was described only as causing sporadic human infections in Africa and Asia, which was mostly confirmed by serologic methods (2). In 2007, the first ZIKV outbreak reported outside Africa and Asia was retrospectively documented from biological samples of patients on Yap Island, Federated States of Micronesia, North Pacific, who had received an incorrect diagnosis of dengue virus (DENV) (3,4). We report here the early investigations that led to identification of ZIKV as the causative agent of an outbreak that started in October 2013 in French Polynesia.

French Polynesia is a French overseas territory located in the South Pacific. The ≈270,000 inhabitants live on 67 islands distributed into 5 archipelagoes (Society, Marquesas, Tuamotu, Gambier, and Austral Islands). Surveillance for acute febrile illnesses is coordinated by the Department of Health with the contribution of a sentinel network of public and private practitioners, the main public hospital (Centre Hospitalier du Taaone), and the public health and research institute (Institut Louis Malarde [ILM]). As part of this syndromic surveillance system, ILM has implemented protocols for detecting arboviruses that are known to cause outbreaks in French Polynesia, such as DENV, or that pose a risk for causing epidemics because of the presence of potential mosquito vectors. In addition, ILM provides DENV serotype identification for other Pacific island countries, including Yap State, as part of the regional surveillance of dengue (5). For that reason, a ZIKV reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) protocol by Lanciotti et al. (3) was implemented at ILM.

In October 2013 (week 41), a 53-year-old women (patient 1) and 2 other members of the household—her 52-year-old husband (patient 2) and her 42-year-old son-in-law (patient 3)—experienced a mild dengue-like illness consisting of low fever (<38°C), asthenia, wrist and fingers arthralgia, headache, and rash. Patients 2 and 3 also had conjunctivitis. Patient 1 had swollen ankles and aphthous ulcers. For all 3 patients, results were negative for DENV by RT-PCR and nonstructural protein 1 (NS1) antigen tests (5), for West-Nile virus by RT-PCR, and for chikungunya virus by RT-PCR; results of RT-PCR for ZIKV were equivocal for patients 1 and 2. During week 43, a 57-year-old patient (patient 4) reported similar symptoms; results of RT-PCR for DENV were negative, but results of RT-PCR for ZIKV were positive. ZIKV infection was then confirmed by sequencing of the genomic position 858–1138 encompassing the prM/E protein coding regions of ZIKV (GenBank accession no. {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"KJ579441","term_id":"636632075"}}KJ579441). The protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of French Polynesia (reference no. 66/CEPF). Phylogenetic analysis of the sequence (Figure) showed ZIKV strain Cambodia 2010-FSS13025 (GenBank accession no. {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"JN860885","term_id":"380036385"}}JN860885) as the closest strain (6).

Figure

Phylogenetic analysis of partial M/E genes of 2 ZIKV strains, French Polynesia, 2013. The evolutionary history was inferred by using the maximum-likelihood method based on the Kimura 2-parameter model. The percentage of trees in which the associated taxa ...

Concomitant with these investigations, the Department of Health recorded an increased number of patients with a mild dengue-like syndrome and rash who were visiting primary care physicians. Given this information, we performed RT-PCR for ZIKV on 10 samples collected during weeks 43 and 44 from patients living in different archipelagoes that had tested negative for DENV NS1 antigen. Four samples gave negative results; 4, positive; and 2, equivocal. Sequencing of 1 ZIKV-positive sample from a patient in Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands (GenBank accession no. {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"KJ579442","term_id":"636632077"}}KJ579442) showed that it had 100% homology with the fragment sequenced from patient 4 who lived in Tahiti, Society Islands. The phylogenetic tree shows that the ZIKV that recently emerged in French Polynesia is similar to Cambodia 2010 and Yap State 2007 strains, which corroborates previous findings of an expansion of ZIKV Asian lineage (7,8). ZIKV was then isolated by inoculating Vero cells with RT-PCR samples positive for ZIKV. After 6 days of propagation, ZIKV-infected cells were detected by indirect immunofluorescence assay using specific hyperimmune mouse ascitic fluids provided by the Institut Pasteur (Dakar, Senegal) (9).

By week 51, the practitioners' network recorded 5,895 patients with suspected ZIKV infections, leading to an estimate of 19,000 suspected cases when extrapolated to other care centers (adjusted to the mean consultation visits). Serum from 584 patients was tested by RT-PCR for ZIKV; 294 samples were positive.

This ZIKV outbreak is the largest documented and the first known to be caused by an arbovirus other than DENV in French Polynesia. To assess when ZIKV circulation in French Polynesia might have started, we will be conducting a retrospective study on DENV NS1 antigen–negative samples collected before the first ZIKV cases were detected. Investigations of the clinical features of ZIKV infections are ongoing. Particularly, because French Polynesia is experiencing concomitant ZIKV, DENV-1, and DENV-3 outbreaks, attention will be paid to whether sequential infections may affect disease outcome. Otherwise, because French Polynesia hosts several mosquito species, notably Aedes aegypti, already known to transmit ZIKV (10), but also other potential vectors, such as Ae. polynesiensis, human and entomologic surveillances have been reinforced to clarify the emergence factors of this outbreak.


Because of its unique function and anatomical location, the liver is exposed to a multitude of toxins and xenobiotics, including medications and alcohol, as well as to infection by hepatotropic viruses, and therefore, is highly susceptible to tissue injury. Cell death in the liver occurs mainly by apoptosis or necrosis, with apoptosis also being the physiologic route to eliminate damaged or infected cells and to maintain tissue homeostasis. Liver cells, especially hepatocytes and cholangiocytes, are particularly susceptible to death receptor-mediated apoptosis, given the ubiquitous expression of the death receptors in the organ. In a quite unique way, death receptor-induced apoptosis in these cells is mediated by both mitochondrial and lysosomal permeabilization. Signaling between the endoplasmic reticulum and the mitochondria promotes hepatocyte apoptosis in response to excessive free fatty acid generation during the metabolic syndrome. These cell death pathways are partially regulated by microRNAs. Necrosis in the liver is generally associated with acute injury (i.e., ischemia/reperfusion injury) and has been long considered an unregulated process. Recently, a new form of "programmed" necrosis (named necroptosis) has been described: the role of necroptosis in the liver has yet to be explored. However, the minimal expression of a key player in this process in the liver suggests this form of cell death may be uncommon in liver diseases. Because apoptosis is a key feature of so many diseases of the liver, therapeutic modulation of liver cell death holds promise. An updated overview of these concepts is given in this article.


The effects of variations in three pairs of variables on identification and discrimination of rhythmic patterns in pure-tone sequences were investigated. It was found that adding a timing difference to two sequences that differed in terms of the pattern of tone intensities improved discrimination if variations of the two variables converged on the same rhythmic pattern but did not help if the variation in timing undermined the rhythmic pattern created by the intensity variation. Adding a difference in the intensities of tones to two sequences that differed in terms of the pitch structure produced a similar pattern of results. The effect of adding a difference in pitch structure to two sequences that differed in terms of timing was not reliably related to the way the differences were combined. The results showed that, at least for some variables, predicting discrimination performance from probabilities of detecting a rhythmic pattern is possible. The relationship of the results to cue trading in speech perception and research possibilities with similar methods are discussed.


The carried interest received by private equity fund managers, or general partners (GPs), generates some controversies. The three most debated claims are that carried interest (1) aligns financial incentives, (2) should be treated as a capital gain for tax purposes, and (3) should not be reported as a fee charged to investors. The existence of two key principal agent relationships within the private equity model might lie at the root of these controversies. One relationship links the GP as the principal with the portfolio company management team as the agent. In this first contract, the three claims hold true. The other relationship links the fund investors, or limited partners (LPs) as the principal with the GP as the agent. This article shows that modifying that second contract (carried interest) by introducing a first-loss feature and reducing the catch-up rate makes the two contracts equivalent. Hence, the benefits of the limited partnership structure can coexist in a setting where the three claims about carried interest hold true. However, currently, these three claims are at odds with how the carried interest is computed. TOPICS: Private equity, legal/regulatory/public policy, equity portfolio management, portfolio management/multi-asset allocation, real assets/alternative investments/private equity, fundamental equity analysis Key Findings • The private equity model aligns the interest of management with that of fund managers. • The private equity model does not have the same alignment between fund managers and fund investors. • It is possible to change the fund manager—investor contract to be like the management—fund manager contract and thus achieve incentive alignment between fund managers and investors.


Hepatitis C virus infection is estimated to affect 150 million people worldwide. A large number of individuals are chronically infected and are at risk of developing chronic liver disease, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Chronic hepatitis C infection causes significant morbidity and mortality. It is the leading indication for liver transplantation in the USA and Europe, and accounts for 30-50% of liver transplants in those countries. The introduction of blood and blood product screening protocols in 1992 led to a decline in new infections, but intravenous drug abuse still remains a major risk factor for acquiring the disease. Since no vaccine is available to prevent infection with this virus, research has been ongoing to find a cure. Treatment of hepatitis C has continuously evolved since the introduction of interferon monotherapy in the early 1990s, with very low response rates. In 2002, the use of pegylated interferon and ribavirin significantly improved sustained virological response rates to 50-80%. The management of patients who do not respond to standard care remains challenging. The US FDA approved directly acting antivirals in May 2011. This introduced a new era with regard to management of this condition.


Constitutionally prohibited grounds of differentiation should be allowed to command the deserved heightened degree of deference before they are set aside in the implementation of the equality guarantee which underpins the remainder of the 'Bill of Rights.' So, too, emphasis should be placed on the imperatives of walking the tight rope in reconciling and balancing competing interests that have a legitimate claim to equal attention in order that the equality guarantee is translated into practice. Nevertheless, the obiter dicta of the House of the Federation in the Benishagul Gumuz decision too easily dispensed with explicit constitutional prohibition of distinctions based on attributes such as language and ethnic origin and legitimated the use of the working language of a regional state as a criterion for candidacy in future elections. The driving motive is to promote (the right to) the use of indigenous languages of each regional state as the official working language, a right that has been denied to the great majority of the nations, nationalities and peoples of the country. This paper sets out to explore the conceptual and normative underpinnings of the right to equality, in the light of which it argues that the House of the Federation has erroneously responded to one threat with another. The crux of the contention is that instead of devising ways that uphold every citizen's right to the use of one's language anywhere in the country, it took away the same rights from the non-indigenes of the various regional states, thereby consigning them to the fate either of forced assimilation or permanent exclusion from elections in the path towards public office.


This thesis is aimed at understanding the accretion-ejection processes and the physical environment in the vicinity of the Galactic black hole transients (GBHT) in the hard state. In this context, X-ray spectral and temporal, optical/infrared (OIR) photometric and radio properties of GBHTs during the outburst decay are examined. As part of developing analysis techniques for this aim, we first investigate a jet associated brightening in the OIR light curves of GX 339-4 during its 2011 outburst decay. The spectral energy distributions taken at the rising part of the OIR rebrightening yield flat spectra, indicating components other than optically thin emission from the compact jet. Again during the rising part of the brightening we detected fluctuations with the binary period of the system. Then, for a large sample of sources, we investigate the relation between the jet formation and the changes or differences in the short term X-ray variability, especially low frequency quasi periodic oscillations. We find that the X-ray variability patterns differ with respect to the source's track in the radio X-ray correlation. We also discuss the nature of X-ray spectral softening within a few days prior to or following the start of the indications of the jet activity. Finally, we compare the relation between the spectral hardness and the reflection amplitude of black hole and neutron star systems to discuss the nature of their differences.


Objective: To study the transformation point of meningeal and periosteal dural at the porus of internal acoustic canal (IAC) in order to verify the different thickness of meningeal and periosteal dura in vestibular schwannomas (VS). Methods: Three IAC cadaver specimens and ten samples of VS patients from porus were obtained and analyzed. Samples were stained by using Masson trichrome technique after cutting in 6 micron of thickness. The samples were then observed under light microscopes to understand the meninges pattern in the IAC. Results: The meningeal dura is becoming thin at the porus and disappears at the meatal portion to form epineurium. However, the periosteal dura is lining continuously to the fundus. In VS, the meningeal dura becomes thick and forms a pseudo-capsule in the middle of meatus, known as perineurium. The residual nerve filament was compressed by the tumor parenchyma. Between the tumor and nerve interface, three or more perineureal layers are seen. The perineurium in the cisternal portion was consistently loose and forms the tumor and arachnoid nerve interface. Almost all the nerve filaments are displaced to the tumor periphery near the pseudocapsule. In contrast, the periosteal dural of VS is becoming thin and disappear nearby the middle of meatal portion. This changing site establishes "meningo-periosteal ring" of VS because of the encircling nearby the porus. Conclusions: In IAC, the meningeal dural becomes thin. The periosteal dura is lining continuously to the fundus. In VS, the meningeal dura becomes thick, joins perineurium and forms pesudocapsule near the porus, but the periosteal dura disappeared. This changing point is called meningo-periosteal ring. Keywords: Meningeal,  periosteal, porus, vestibular schwannomas DOI : 10.15850/ijihs.v1n1.104


Imbalance suggests a feeling of dynamism and movement in static objects. It is therefore not surprising that many 3D models stand in impossibly balanced configurations. As long as the models remain in a computer this is of no consequence: the laws of physics do not apply. However, fabrication through 3D printing breaks the illusion: printed models topple instead of standing as initially intended. We propose to assist users in producing novel, properly balanced designs by interactively deforming an existing model. We formulate balance optimization as an energy minimization, improving stability by modifying the volume of the object, while preserving its surface details. This takes place during interactive editing: the user cooperates with our optimizer towards the end result. We demonstrate our method on a variety of models. With our technique, users can produce fabricated objects that stand in one or more surprising poses without requiring glue or heavy pedestals.


Network protocol designers, both at the physical and network level, have long considered interference and simultaneous transmission in wireless protocols as a problem to be avoided. This, coupled with a tendency to emulate wired network protocols in the wireless domain, has led to artificial limitations in wireless networks.
 In this paper, we argue that wireless protocols can exploit simultaneous transmission to reduce the cost of reliable multicast by orders of magnitude. With an appropriate application interface, simultaneous transmission can also greatly speed up common group communication primitives, such as anycast, broadcast, leader election and others.
 The proposed method precisely fits into the domain of directly reachable nodes where many group communication mechanisms are commonly used in routing protocols and other physical-layer mechanisms. We demonstrate how simultaneous transmission can be used to implement a reliable broadcast for an infrastructure and peer-to-peer network using a prototype reconfigurable hardware. We also validate the notion of using simple spectrum sensing techniques to distinguish multiple transmissions. We then describe how the mechanism can be extended to solve group communication problems and the challenges inherent to build innovative protocols which are faster and reliable at the same time.


AIM
To determine the association of impacted maxillary canines with other developmental dental anomalies and compare them with a control population and to compare palatally and labially impacted canine associated anomalies.

METHODS AND MATERIALS
Ninety non-syndromic orthodontic patients from a south Indian population, with either labial or palatal impactions of one or both maxillary canine teeth, were selected for the study group. A group of 250 patients who had normally erupted maxillary canines were selected as controls. Clinical findings and panoramic radiographs were used to identify dental anomalies.

RESULTS
Prevalence of premolar rotation was found to be 80% in the study group followed by canine rotation (20%), taurodontism (26.6%), infraocclusion of premolars (25.5%), impacted mandibular canine (11.1%), and peg lateral (7.7%). Forty-nine (54.4%) palatally impacted, 37 (41.1%) labially impacted, and 4 (4.4%) centrally impacted canines were also observed. Of the 250 subjects in the control group 78.8% presented with premolar rotation. Maxillary canine transmigration, infraocclusion of premolars, anomalies of maxillary lateral incisors, and taurodontism showed significant associations with palatally impacted canines (P<0.05).

CONCLUSION
The present study illustrates a significant association of anomalous maxillary lateral, anomalous mandibular canine, taurodontism, infra occlusion of premolar, over retained deciduous molar, and maxillary canine transmigration with ectopically placed canines. These associations suggest these conditions may share a common genetic origin and existence of these anomalies can anticipate maxillary canine impaction which can help in cautious observation and early treatment for maxillary canine impaction.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Anomalous lateral incisors can serve as a predictor for palatal maxillary canine impaction. These anomalies could serve as an easily recognized, early warning sign for the monitoring of the canine position and timely early referral in appropriate cases.


209 Abstract— Regression testing is a part of software maintenance and it consumes about two-third of the overall software life cycle cost. It is an expensive activity that is done whenever there are some changes takes places in software. Regression testing tests both the modified code and other parts of the program that may be adversely affected by the changes introduced in the program or a part of it. The regression testing of database applications concerns with the state of the database as it contributes too many components that increase the complexity of the applications because in case of database the test cases are not independent of each other and the database requires to be reset all the time. In this paper we have done a survey of regression testing techniques for testing database applications.


Recent advances in ultra-high-density data storage technologies have led to two-dimensional (2-D) intersymbol interference (ISI) in the system. The optimum detection method for 2-D ISI channels has prohibitive computational complexity which makes it impractical. In this paper, we propose a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) based 2-D detection algorithm whose complexity grows polynomially with the ISI size. When turbo decoded in conjunction with a low-density parity check (LDPC) channel code, the performance of the proposed detection method is evaluated for ultra-high-density bit-patterned magnetic recording (BPMR) systems. Its computational complexity is also analyzed. Our study shows that the proposed detection method significantly reduces the computational burden, while achieving performance better than the BCJR based detection method.


Modeling blood coagulation has taken various directions in recent years, depending on the aspects that authors wish to emphasize. In this paper we want to address an issue that has been systematically ignored in the relevant literature, namely the effect of blood slip at the vessels wall. The presence of a slip results in an increased supply of activated platelets to the clotting site. We calculate such a contribution showing that, in extreme cases, it can be even dominant. Indeed, raising the concentration of activated platelets induces an acceleration of thrombin production and eventually of the whole clot progression. The model explains the difference between arterial and venous thrombi. We confine to the coagulation stage known as "propagation phase" in the context of the so called cell based model. The paper is preparatory for a deeper analysis in which the clotting process is coupled to blood rheology and that will be carried out in the future by the same authors. At the present stage, the extremely complex biochemistry has been simplified adopting a leaner, though virtual, system of diffusion-convection-reaction equations, in the optics of providing "modular" models, that can be reduced or enlarged so to meet specific modeling requirements.


The main objective of this ex post facto study is to compare the differences in cognitive functions and their relation to schizotypal personality traits between a group of unaffected parents of schizophrenic patients and a control group. A total of 52 unaffected biological parents of schizophrenic patients and 52 unaffected parents of unaffected subjects were assessed in measures of attention (Continuous Performance Test- Identical Pairs Version, CPT-IP), memory and verbal learning (California Verbal Learning Test, CVLT) as well as schizotypal personality traits (Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences, O-LIFE). The parents of the patients with schizophrenia differ from the parents of the control group in omission errors on the Continuous Performance Test- Identical Pairs, on a measure of recall and on two contrast measures of the California Verbal Learning Test. The associations between neuropsychological variables and schizotpyal traits are of a low magnitude. There is no defined pattern of the relationship between cognitive measures and schizotypal traits.


The relationships between optical properties and water constituents in highly turbid productive water were studied on the basis of the multiple bio-optical measurements and samplings of water constituents made during five cruises from 2006 to 2008 in Taihu lake. Taihu lake is a high dynamic ratio [(square root of area)/depth] inland shallow lake. The spatial and temporal variation of water constituents and optical properties is significant. The inorganic suspended matter (ISM) has become the primary constituent in Taihu lake: its average percentage can reach 65.21%. The concentration of ISM is highly correlated to the optical properties in Taihu lake due to the sediment resuspension. Consequently, the ISM can be taken into account as an important optically-active constituent in Taihu lake. Resuspended sediments also lead to a poor correlation between scattering optical property and chlorophyll-a concentration (C Chl-a ). However, empirical relationship between the C Chl-a and phytoplankton absorption coefficient at 675 nm is still valid when the package effect is removed. The parameters of linear equation in the present study have slight temporal variation, especially for the relationship between inherent optical properties (IOPs) and concentration of total suspended matter (TSM). The relationship between apparent optical property (AOP) (diffuse attenuation coefficient of particle, K dbio ) and ISM has been examined as well. The K dbio is strongly affected by ISM, and correlates to it with linear function. The difference between specific diffuse attenuation coefficients of organic [K * dOSM (l)] and inorganic [K * dISM (l)] particles is significant. K * dOSM (l) includes the absorption property of chlorophyll-a (chl-a) at 675 nm, which is much higher than that of K * dISM (l). This indicates that the attenuation ability of OSM is stronger than that of ISM although the K dbio induced by large concentration of ISM is bigger than the K dbio induced by small concentration of OSM. Overall, the knowledge of the bio-optical properties obtained in this study extends our understanding of water optics and can be used to predict the optical properties via water constituent concentration, regardless of measurement type ( in situ or simulated by hydrodynamic model).


We report the first experimental observation, to our knowledge, of the self-trapping of light in walk-off-compensating optical tandems. The experiment was conducted with picosecond light pulses in a ten-plate optically contacted tandem made of potassium titanyl phosphate prepared for phase matching along a special geometry featuring a huge local walk-off. The observation should open the door to the exploration of multicomponent soliton formation in new classes of materials and settings.


Steel bridges with reinforced concrete substructures and steel superstructures are considered to have superior performance under earthquakes when compared with their reinforced concrete counterpart. Such performance reputation stems from the fact that few steel bridges have been subjected to strong ground motion in the last decade in North America. In addition to the lack of seismic exposure of bridges, research on the seismic performance of steel bridges' superstructure is limited to handful of studies. It is noteworthy that none of the previously conducted studies addressed the behavior of the bridge superstructure's fatigue details, which are designed for traffic loading, under earthquake loading. The studies also did not address the potential for the presence of existing cracks in bridges when an earthquake occurs. In the superstructure, fatigue is often the most prevalent problem in steel bridges and contributes to approximately 90% of existing cracks. The cracks are a result of the repeated traffic cycles exerted on the bridge, which is a primary concern in older bridges. In this study, the seismic behavior of a twin tub steel girder bridge is evaluated. Specifically, a detailed finite element model of the bridge in question is developed, and the model is subjected to a suite of ground motions. Of the two models developed, one did not include any initial cracks and one included a crack that presumably developed because of fatigue loading from usual traffic. The results of the analysis show large displacement of the bridge due to exposure to some of the earthquakes. In addition, the results show the potential for developing low cycle fatigue failure in some of the details, even in the absence of an initial crack. These results are critical as they highlight the importance for detailed assessment of the superstructure for bridges in moderate to high seismic regions.


Epoxy nanocomposites, with inorganic oxide nanoparticles as filler, can exhibit novel property combinations, such as enhanced mechanical strength, higher thermal conductivity, increased dielectric breakdown strength, and reduced complex permittivity. Therefore, they have interesting applications in nanodielectrics, such as high‐voltage insulation materials or in microelectromechanical systems. The primary challenge in the processing of nanocomposites is achieving a homogeneous dispersion of the nanoparticles. The dispersion quality affects the interfaces between the organic and the inorganic components, which can determine the final properties of the nanocomposite. Here, the processing methods and the resulting dielectric, mechanical, and thermal properties of epoxy nanocomposites with inorganic oxide fillers are presented. Functionalization of the nanoparticle generally improves the dispersion of the particles in the polymer matrix. Different oxide fillers are observed to have similar effects on the properties of the nanocomposites. Epoxy‐based nanocomposites exhibit improved dielectric breakdown strength and lower complex permittivity with inorganic oxide nanoparticles at low filler contents, compared to conventional composites with micrometer‐sized particles. While there are some inconsistencies in the findings, which may be attributed to differences in the dispersion quality, an improved understanding of the nanoparticle–epoxy interfaces in nanocomposites will enable tailoring of the desired properties, opening new avenues for application.


The vertical distribution of pelagic marine larvae can greatly influence their dispersal due to depth-varying currents, which can determine larval retention or transport away from critical habitat. Vertical distribution of commercially important lobster Nephrops norvegicus larvae was examined over fishing grounds off the west and east coasts of Ireland. Larval vertical distribution for both grounds was significantly influenced by the temperature differential between the surface and 60 m depth, zooplankton biomass and, to a lesser extent, stratification, measured using the potential energy anomaly. Fixed station sampling was conducted over 3 d in the western Irish Sea (WIS) to investigate the occurrence and extent of a diel vertical migration (DVM). Larvae performed twilight DVM with an ~10 m ascent prior to sunset and sunrise and a descent at midnight and after sunrise. Particle-tracking model simulations were used to examine the effect of DVM behaviour on larval retention over mud habitat. The presence of a DVM actually reduced the likelihood of retention on both the Aran and WIS grounds. Predicted larval retention was unusually low over the Aran grounds in 2018, which is potentially significant in the context of historic stock fluctuations in this area. These findings suggest that understanding larval dynamics could be crucial in managing N. norvegicus stocks on fishing grounds, in particular those with variable interannual oceanography and a low rate of larval donation from other grounds.


This new edition of one of the most widely used course books on Islamic civilizations around the world has been substantially revised to incorporate the new scholarship and insights of the last twenty-five years. Ira Lapidus' history explores the beginnings and transformations of Islamic civilizations in the Middle East and details Islam's worldwide diffusion. The history is divided into four parts. Part I is a comprehensive account of pre-Islamic late antiquity; the beginnings of Islam; the early Islamic empires; and Islamic religious, artistic, legal and intellectual cultures. Part II deals with the construction in the Middle East of Islamic religious communities and states to the fifteenth century. Part III includes the history to the nineteenth century of Islamic North Africa and Spain; the Ottoman, Safavid and Mughal empires; and other Islamic societies in Asia and Africa. Part IV accounts for the impact of European commercial and imperial domination on Islamic societies and traces the development of the modern national state system and the simultaneous Islamic revival from the early nineteenth century to the present.


The ACA's full implications will not be known for years, but its impact on Medicare will be significant and immediate. What might really happen to Medicare under the new health reform? The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) is the most significant healthcare legislation enacted since the passage of Medicare and Medicaid forty-five years ago. The new law's full implications will not be known for years, but its impact on the Medicare program will be significant and immediate. Many of its effects will be beneficial to enrollees in Medicare, despite the fact that polls of older Americans reveal a pervasive antipathy to the new statute. At the same time, financing the ACA includes more than half a trillion dollars of cuts to Medicare. It defies common sense to believe that cuts of this magnitude will not have some deleterious effect on how older Americans pay for their medical needs. Preventive Services Even before healthcare reform was enacted, Medicare began to cover more preventive services, in line with United States healthcare plans generally, and in an effort to minimize the need for expensive medical interventions down the road. For example, the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) provided that in the first six months (later amended to the first year) of a person's enrollment in Medicare Part B, that person is entitled to an "initial preventive physical examination." The purpose of this exam is to promote health and detect diseases before they worsen. Along with various cancer screenings and tests for cardiovascular disease, this examination includes "education, counseling, and referral" services. In 2008, the final year of President George W. Bush's administration, this examination was expanded to incorporate "end-of-life planning," which included information about "an individual's ability to prepare an advance directive in the case that an injury or illness causes the individual to be unable to make health care decisions" (Title 42 U.S. States Code 1395x). To this now-expanded examination, the ACA adds "annual wellness visits." These visits include a comprehensive risk assessment and a "personalized prevention plan." These services will consider a person's medical and family history, various biometrics such as body mass index and blood pressure, cognitive impairments, and a five-to-ten year schedule of screening tests. These services will be provided by the Medicare program at no charge to the enrollee-no deductibles or co-payment obligations will apply to wellness visits. Such services have long been a touted component of Medicare managed care, and the ACA extends them to the traditional Medicare program. Annual wellness visits now available to every Medicare enrollee should significantly improve enrollees' health, and might reduce Medicare's programmatic expenses down the road. Prescription Drugs One of the most significant categories of medical spending for many older adults is prescription medications-an issue also addressed in 2003. Medicare Part D, the program's coverage for prescription drugs, did not begin, however, until 2006, and it included a coverage gap known as "the donut hole." After an annual deductible, the initial coverage component of a Medicare Part D plan required enrollees to pay 25 percent of their prescription drug costs. Once the total drug costs (what the plan paid and what the enrollee paid) reached $2,830 (in 2010), enrollees went into the donut hole, where they paid the total cost of their drugs. This no-coverage feature continued until total drug costs reached $6,440. At that point, a catastrophic level of coverage kicked in where enrollees paid no more than 5 percent of the cost of a drug, with no coverage limit. This strange configuration has no counterpart in any other healthcare financing arrangement, public or private, in the United States or elsewhere. It resulted from the interaction of three unrelated political imperatives. …


This paper deals with processes which operate when pigments are combined. Usually it is assumed that one may learn of these processes only by trial and error and that information acquired in this way cannot be imparted to others. From experience as a painter and decorator the writer has long believed otherwise; that is, that these processes are simple enough so that, given a proper method, useful information about them could be organized and presented in a form understandable to any interested person. With this in mind a simple diagram was devised to show general mixture-relationships among red, yellow, and blue pigments and their combinations. Though this was useful to a degree, its limitations were evident, since it did not deal concretely with most pigments in common use. By trial and error, points indicating a selection of pigments were incorporated into the diagram, with the objective that color-mixture relationships among the pigments should be expressed in terms of linear relationships among the points. The advantages of such an arrangement were at once apparent. Using this as a point of departure and drawing from the experience of people inquiring into similar processes operating when colored lights are combined, a new color system was built, consisting of devices and conventions designed to supplement and facilitate use of information so presented. To what degree the pigment positions had been so arranged as to secure the nearest-possible approach to linear color-mixture relations remained for a time unknown. Meanwhile doubt was expressed that it is possible to arrange them so as to provide useful approximations of the relationships involved. Then a new experimental technique was devised. This led to correction of errors in locating the pigment positions and produced evidence that information about color-mixture relationships among pigments can be summarized very well in diagramatic form. Some features of the color system mentioned are noted. The experiments are described and data presented for review.


Introduction: The last two decades have seen the adoption of simulation-based surgical education in various disciplines. The current study's goal was to perform a needs assessment using the results to inform future curricular planning and needs of surgeons and learners. Methods: A survey was distributed to 26 surgeon educators and interviews were conducted with 8 of these surgeons.  Analysis of survey results included reliability and descriptive statistics. Interviews were analyzed for thematic content with a constant comparison technique, developing coding and categorization of themes. Results: The survey response rate was 81%. The inter-item reliability, according to Cronbach's alpha was 0.81 with strongest agreement for statements related to learning new skills, training new residents and the positive impact on patient safety and learning.   There was less strong agreement for maintenance of skills, improving team functioning and reducing teaching in the operating room. Interview results confirmed those themes from the survey and highlighted inconsistencies for identified perceived barriers and a focus on acquisition of skills only.  Interview responses specified concerns with integrating simulation into existing curricula and the need for more evaluation as a robust educational strategy. Conclusion: The findings were summarized in four themes: 1) use of simulation, 2) integration into curriculum, 3) leadership, and 4) understanding gaps in simulation use. This study exemplifies a mixed-methods approach to planning a surgical simulation program through a general needs assessment.


One possible explanation for the difficulty in controlling the budget is that a major component of spending—tax expenditures—receives privileged status. It is treated as tax cuts rather than as spending. This paper explores the implications of that classification and illustrates how it can lead to higher taxes, larger government, and an inefficient mix of spending (too many tax expenditures). The paper then analyzes alternative budgeting approaches that would explicitly incorporate and measure tax expenditures. It concludes by analyzing ways to control tax expenditures (and other spending) and the special challenges presented by tax expenditures.


Study objective: To estimate the impact of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in early 2003 on a tertiary care hospital in Taiwan, ROC. Methods: The study estimated the utilisation of resources related to infection control, SARS related medical services, and routine medical services, and SARS related medical outcomes at National Cheng Kung University Hospital (NCKUH) from 25 March to 16 June 2003 through a cross sectional survey of hospital records. Results: A mean of 5100 persons per day (95%CI 4580 to 5610) underwent fever screening at the outpatient and emergency department (ED) entrances to the hospital, of which 35 per day (95% CI 30 to 40) were referred for further evaluation for suspected or probable SARS. ED isolation surge capacity was created via 12 new beds outside the ED: eight for SARS assessment, three for patients awaiting inhospital bed assignment, and one for resuscitation. A total of 382 patients were fully evaluated for suspected or probable SARS outside the ED, of which 27 were admitted. The mean numbers of outpatient clinic patient visits, ED visits, ED trauma patient visits, ED admissions, hospital admissions, and operative procedures decreased during the outbreak. Thirty eight patients were hospitalised with suspected SARS, of which three received the final diagnosis of probable SARS. Two patients with probable SARS died. No cases of nosocomial SARS transmission occurred. Conclusions: This SARS outbreak was associated with substantial use of hospital and ED resources aimed at infection control, comparatively less use of resources related to the medical care of patients with suspected or probable SARS, and decreased use of routine medical services.


A photovoltaic ultraviolet (UV) sensor is designed with a unique structure comprising of an in-plane polarized ferroelectric lead lanthanum zirconate titanate (PLZT) thin film on a transparent silica substrate and with an interdigital electrodes on the top surface. Both the experimental measurements and theoretical analyses showed that the UV sensor exhibited significantly enhanced responses with the incident UV irradiation input from the silica substrate in comparison with that from the top surface of the PLZT film. The proposed device configuration leads to a cost-effective scratch- and moisture-proof UV sensor with a flip-chip package, which promises great robustness for UV monitoring in harsh conditions.


Intensivists are increasingly needed to care for the critically ill and manage ICUs as ICU beds, utilization, acuity of illness, complexity of care and costs continue to rise. However, there is a nationwide shortage of intensivists that has occurred despite years of well publicized warnings of an impending workforce crisis from specialty societies and the federal government. The magnitude of the intensivist shortfall, however, is difficult to determine because there are many perspectives of optimal ICU administration, patient coverage and intensivist availability and a lack of national data on intensivist practices. Nevertheless, the intensivist shortfall is quite real as evidenced by the alternative solutions that hospitals are deploying to provide care for their critically ill patients. In the midst of these manpower struggles, the critical care environment is dynamically changing and becoming more stressful. Severe hospital bed availability and fiscal constraints are forcing ICUs to alter their approaches to triage, throughput and unit staffing. National and local organizations are mandating that hospitals comply with resource intensive and arguably unproven initiatives to monitor and improve patient safety and quality, and informatics systems. Lastly, there is an ongoing sense of professional dissatisfaction among intensivists and a lack of public awareness that critical care medicine is even a distinct specialty. This article offers proposals to increase the adult intensivist workforce through expansion and enhancements of internal medicine based critical care training programs, incentives for recent graduates to enter the critical care medicine field, suggestions for improvements in the critical care profession and workplace to encourage senior intensivists to remain in the field, proactive marketing of critical care, and expanded engagement by the critical care societies in the challenges facing intensivists.


Abstract. Physical and biogeochemical processes regulate soil carbon dynamics and CO2 flux to and from the atmosphere, influencing global climate changes. Integration of these processes into Earth system models (e.g., community land models (CLMs)), however, currently faces three major challenges: (1) extensive efforts are required to modify modeling structures and to rewrite computer programs to incorporate new or updated processes as new knowledge is being generated, (2) computational cost is prohibitively expensive to simulate biogeochemical processes in land models due to large variations in the rates of biogeochemical processes, and (3) various mathematical representations of biogeochemical processes exist to incorporate different aspects of fundamental mechanisms, but systematic evaluation of the different mathematical representations is difficult, if not impossible. To address these challenges, we propose a new computational framework to easily incorporate physical and biogeochemical processes into land models. The new framework consists of a new biogeochemical module, Next Generation BioGeoChemical Module (NGBGC), version 1.0, with a generic algorithm and reaction database so that new and updated processes can be incorporated into land models without the need to manually set up the ordinary differential equations to be solved numerically. The reaction database consists of processes of nutrient flow through the terrestrial ecosystems in plants, litter, and soil. This framework facilitates effective comparison studies of biogeochemical cycles in an ecosystem using different conceptual models under the same land modeling framework. The approach was first implemented in CLM and benchmarked against simulations from the original CLM-CN code. A case study was then provided to demonstrate the advantages of using the new approach to incorporate a phosphorus cycle into CLM. To our knowledge, the phosphorus-incorporated CLM is a new model that can be used to simulate phosphorus limitation on the productivity of terrestrial ecosystems. The method presented here could in theory be applied to simulate biogeochemical cycles in other Earth system models.


Purpose: The aim of the present exploratory study was to evaluate extraction socket healing at sites with a history of periodontal and endodontic pathology. Methods: The mandibular 4th premolar teeth in 5 adult beagle dogs served as experimental units. Periodontal and endodontic lesions were induced in 1 premolar site in each animal using wire ligatures and pulpal exposure over 3 months (diseased sites). The contralateral premolar sites served as healthy controls. The mandibular 4th premolar teeth were then extracted with minimal trauma, followed by careful wound debridement. The animals were sacrificed at days 1, 7, 30, 60, and 90 post-extraction for analysis, and the healing patterns at the healthy and diseased extraction sites were compared using radiography, scanning electron microscopy, histology, and histometry. Results: During the first 7 days of healing, a significant presence of inflammatory granulation tissue was noted at the diseased sites (day 1), along with a slightly accelerated rate of fibrin clot resolution on day 7. On day 30, the diseased extraction sites showed a greater percentage of persistent fibrous connective tissue, and an absence of bone marrow formation. In contrast, healthy sites showed initial signs of bone marrow formation on day 30, and subsequently a significantly greater proportion of mature bone marrow formation on both days 60 and 90. Radiographs exhibited sclerotic changes adjoining apical endodontic lesions, with scanning electron microscopy showing collapsed Volkmann canals protruding from these regions in the diseased sites. Furthermore, periodontal ligament fibers exhibited a parallel orientation to the alveolar walls of the diseased sites, in contrast to a perpendicular arrangement in the healthy sites. Conclusions: Within the limitations of this study, it appears that a history of periodontal and endodontic pathology may critically affect bone formation and maturation, leading to delayed and compromised extraction socket healing.


With the skyrocketing popularity of mobile devices, new processing methods tailored to a specific application have become necessary for low-resource systems. This work presents a high-speed, low-resource speech recognition system using custom arithmetic units, where all system variables are represented by integer indices and all arithmetic operations are replaced by hardware-based table lookups. To this end, several reordering and rescaling techniques, including two accumulation structures for Gaussian evaluation and a novel method for the normalization of Viterbi search scores, are proposed to ensure low entropy for all variables. Furthermore, a discriminatively inspired distortion measure is investigated for scalar quantization of forward probabilities to maximize the recognition rate. Finally, heuristic algorithms are explored to optimize system-wide resource allocation. Our best bit-width allocation scheme only requires 59 kB of ROMs to hold the lookup tables, and its recognition performance with various vocabulary sizes in both clean and noisy conditions is nearly as good as that of a system using a 32-bit floating-point unit. Simulations on various architectures show that, on most modern processor designs, we can expect a cycle-count speedup of at least three times over systems with floating-point units. Additionally, the memory bandwidth is reduced by over 70% and the offline storage for model parameters is reduced by 80%


Economic Kreatif is one of the progress factors of the national economy. The creative economy concentrates on the economic dynamics of the creative industry sector, which was recently targeted by the government as an area with significant growth potential. On January 20, 2015, President Joko Widodo established a new non-ministerial institution called the Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf). This body is responsible for the expansion of the creative economy in Indonesia. East Java has 29 districts and 9 cities, a number of which host creative industry businesses in the field of SMEs, namely Sidoarjo district. Sidoarjo regency, which is one of the regencies in East Java, is focused on the development of Micro Small Medium Enterprises in facing the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). The primary creative industry in Sidoarjo district are the Metal Industries in Ngingas Village, Waru Sub-district. The small and medium industry (IKM) metal center of Ngingas, Sidoarjo, East Java is one of the component suppliers for major manufacturing companies in Indonesia. Craftsmen in these industrial centers are constrained by licensing problems. They are also constrained by limited business capital for the procurement of raw materials and production machinery, and the lack of metal waste disposal facilities.


BACKGROUND
 Up to 1 million falls per year occur during hospital stays in the US, costing hospitals up to $7 billion per year to treat. Delirium, a major cause of falls, is highly prevalent (29%-64%) among hospitalized elders. Our team is developing a care technology that provides 24x7 proactive patient support to mitigate falls and delirium in a scalable, cost-effective, yet person-centered manner. We were awarded an NIH SBIR Fast-Track grant to further our work.

 OBJECTIVE
 Prior research showed that digital avatars can build psychosocially supportive relationships with older adults living in the community. We conducted a pilot study of these digital avatars in a community hospital setting, and found that bedside avatars helped reduce the rate of falls among elderly inpatients while mitigating delirium and loneliness. Thus, in our present NIH-funded work, we seek to enhance the clinical robustness of our avatar intervention by implementing a more complete set of protocols derived from the evidence-based Hospital Elder Life Program (HELP), and to validate the benefits of this next-generation intervention in a larger scale, multi-site clinical study.

 METHODS
 Avatars are displayed on tablets as virtual dogs or cats, responding to touch. They are able to talk intelligently due to live support from a 24x7 team of trained humans combined with protocol guidance and process automation software. At the bedside, avatars talk with patients and implement protocols including reorientation and bed exercises, based on HELP. English-speaking patients aged 65+ on three medical surgical units were selected in our pilot study based on subjective nursing risk assessment and patient consent. Participants on two intervention units received an avatar for their entire hospital stay. Participants on a control unit received a daily visit from a nursing student. Measures were administered upon study enrollment and discharge. Quarterly fall rates by unit were reported by the hospital. In our present work, we will conduct a larger, multi-site clinical study starting with two hospitals in late 2018 and incorporating electronic medical record integration to increase the objectivity of patient enrollment, ease the patient enrollment process, and apply interventions intelligently tailored to each patient. Additional hospitals may join the two-year study through 2020.

 RESULTS
 In our pilot study, intervention (n=41) and control (n=54) patients were equivalent except for an intervention group bias toward females (P=.02). Mean age was 76.5 years, with 55% female, 46% African-American, and 44% speaking English as a second language. Typical length of stay was 3-6 days. On average, avatars performed 71.3 observational check-ins, 61 minutes of engagement using 11.5 images or audio files, and 6.5 protocol-driven tasks per patient per day. Compared to control patients, intervention patients showed a significantly greater reduction in delirium score (CAM, P=.003) and loneliness (UCLA-LS, P=.008). The primary intervention unit had 0.9 falls per 1000-patient days during the 3-month study period, compared to 6.5 on the control unit (86% reduction).

 CONCLUSIONS
 Previous findings support the use and development of avatar technology for hospitalized patients at risk for delirium or falls. Hospitals interested in joining our two-year clinical study may contact the principal investigator.


Genome connoisseurs are always looking for new methods to tweak the data, especially in sequence regions where good fits are harder to achieve or recognize. The previous capsid alignments were based on superimposition of virion crystal structure hydrogen-bonding maps, then extended by multiple, reiterative pairwise comparisons to include similar related sequences. With the HMMER program suite full-length picornavirus genome hidden Markov model (HMM)-profiles (lengths of 8,000 to 9,000 bases) were calculated from the previous alignments. The alignments were checked for consistency, and then refined mathematically and heuristically to (i) maximize the number of matched bases and encoded amino acids, (ii) minimize the location and frequency of indels (insertions/deletions), and (iii) emphasize the conservation of homologous features such as catalytic sites and proteolytic cleavage sites. The current iterations now include genome-length alignments for the seven most populous picornaviral genera (Enterovirus, Rhinovirus, Cardiovirus, Aphthovirus, Hepatovirus, Parechovirus, and Teschovirus) and extend over 173 different strains, providing formats for about 1,000,000 bases. The correlate polyprotein alignments, derived by translation of the aligned RNAs, include about 291,000 amino acids. For eukaryotes, there is very little information about the specific pressures that might shape a given lineage. Certainly, the symmetrical methylation of CG dinucleotides has a unique structural significance in many higher DNA genomes, reducing the value and frequency of this sequence in coding regions.


Momentum method has been used extensively in optimizers for deep learning. Recent studies show that distributed training through K-step averaging has many nice properties. We propose a momentum method for such model averaging approaches. At each individual learner level traditional stochastic gradient is applied. At the meta-level (global learner level), one momentum term is applied and we call it block momentum. We analyze the convergence and scaling properties of such momentum methods. Our experimental results show that block momentum not only accelerates training, but also achieves better results.


We propose a class of multiple-prior representations of preferences under ambiguity where the belief the decision-maker (DM) uses to evaluate an uncertain prospect is the outcome of a game played by two conflicting forces, Pessimism and Optimism. The model does not restrict the sign of the DM\'s ambiguity attitude, and we show that it provides a unified framework through which to characterize different degrees of ambiguity aversion, as well as to represent context-dependent negative and positive ambiguity attitudes documented in experiments. We prove that our baseline representation, Boolean expected utility (BEU), yields a novel representation of the class of invariant biseparable preferences (Ghirardato, Maccheroni and Marinacci, 2004), which drops uncertainty aversion from maxmin expected utility (Gilboa and Schmeidler, 1989), while extensions of BEU allow for more general departures from independence.


Host cell attachment by pathogenic bacteria can play very different roles in the course of infection. The pathogenic spirochetes Borrelia hermsii and Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato which cause relapsing fever and Lyme disease, respectively, are transmitted by the bite of infected ticks. After transmission, these spirochetes can cause systemic infection. Relapsing fever spirochetes remain largely in the bloodstream causing febrile episodes, while Lyme disease will often colonize a variety of tissues, such as the heart, joint and nervous system, resulting in a chronic multisystemic disorder. Borrelia species have the ability to bind to various cell types, a process which plays a crucial role in pathogenesis and may influence spirochetal clearance from the bloodstream. Colonization of multiple tissues and cell types is likely promoted by the ability to bind to components found in target tissues, and many B. burgdorferi adhesins have been shown to promote attachment to a wide variety of cells and extracellular matrix components. Different Lyme disease strains have been shown to preferentially colonize certain tissues, although the basis of this tissue tropism is not well understood. In this study we found that among different Lyme disease strains, allelic variation of the adhesin DbpA contributes to variation in its in vitro binding activities raising the possibility that this variation contributes to tissue tropism in vivo. In studying B. hermsii infection, we found evidence by both histological and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis of tissues that indicated that red blood cells were removed by tissue resident macrophages in infected mice. Spirochetes in the spleen and liver were often visualized associated with RBCs, lending support to the hypothesis that direct interaction of B. hermsii spirochetes with RBCs leads to clearance of bacteria from the bloodstream. Our findings indicate that host cell attachment play a key role in the establishment of Lyme disease infection, and in contrast contributes to the clearance of relapsing fever infection.


When the subject of 'Appropriate Waste Management Technologies' is discussed, the question of the meaning of the word 'appropriate' is usually raised. Many have suggested what the term should encompass, from a very narrow definition to the most comprehensive it can have.

At Murdoch University Dr Kelvin Willoughby researched the subject for his PhD thesis, and published a book based on it. He detailed in particular the appropriate technology movement that emerged in the sixties and seventies. The movement was a response to the unsatisfactory situation when capital intensive high technology systems from developed countries were applied in developing countries. The technologies required high maintenance costs and expertise which might not be available in the latter.

More recently Martin Anda explored in his Ph 0 thesis how technology should be transferred to indigenous people of Australia. His research is based on his experience and also on observation of the work of Dr Bruce Walker, Director of the Centre for Appropriate Technology and others in Australia, and work amongst indigenous people in North America. In these cases cultural differences have meant that the technology transfer process must take into account the cultural differences.

At this Symposium Dr Don Mansell, Director of the International Development Unit at the University of Melbourne, will present a paper based on his experience of technology transfer to Papua New Guinea and the Asia Pacific region.

I would like to explore in this paper what meaning the word 'appropriate' should have when associated with waste management technologies.


Depictions of the underworld, in ancient Greek and Roman textual and visual sources, differ significantly from source to source, but they all draw on a common pool of traditional mythic motifs. These motifs, such as the realm of Hades and its denizens, the rivers of the underworld, the paradise of the blessed dead, and the places of punishment for the wicked, are developed and transformed through all their uses throughout the ages, depending upon the aims of the author or artist depicting the underworld. Some sources explore the relation of the world of the living to that of the dead through descriptions of the location of the underworld and the difficulties of entering it. By contrast, discussions of the regions within the underworld and existence therein often relate to ideas of afterlife as a continuation of or compensation for life in the world above. All of these depictions made use of the same basic set of elements, adapting them in their own ways to describe the location of, the entering into, and the regions within the underworld.


This paper provides a new explanation of why inflation is sluggish in response to aggregate demand shocks and why aggregate output changes as result of such shocks. We argue that these phenomena are related to lags between inputs and outputs in the production process, "production lags" for short. The broad intuition is that production activities in a modern economy are interconnected through complex input-output relations, with production lags within individual firms, and that it takes considerable time for cost and price changes to penetrate the entire input-output system. Our analysis provides a rationale for a prolonged inverse relation between inflation and unemployment. The paper suggests that the interaction of inflation persistence and unemployment persistence may offer a possible explanation of high and prolonged European unemployment.


Over the past few years, policymakers have argued that everything from Apple's Irish tax deal to patent boxes to the LuxLeaks tax rulings represent "harmful tax competition." Despite the ubiquity of this term, however, there is no internationally accepted definition of so-called harmful tax competition.

This Article uses the anti-tax-competition measures proposed and implemented over the last twenty years to reverse-engineer what policymakers believe to constitute harmful tax competition. Their different visions of harmful tax competition lead to three important lessons. First, when governments claim to be limiting tax competition, they are not leveling the playing field so much as they are shifting it in their own favor. Second, international tax competition relies on international tax avoidance, and international tax avoidance relies on international tax competition. Thus, governments are complicit in international tax avoidance, while taxpayers (usually multinational corporations) are complicit in tax competition. Finally, governments often use both anti-tax-competition measures and anti-avoidance measures not just to limit tax competition by other countries but also as an additional form of tax competition that strengthens their own competitive position.


The purpose of this article is two-fold. It is, first, to draw attention to the inadequately explored borderlands alternative perspective to scholarly and policy research on African boundaries. This emphasis is urgent for reason of its direct relevance to current efforts at achieving transborder cooperation as a cornerstone for effective sub-regional and regional integration. The second point of emphasis is the comparative perspective to the study. This is compelled not only by the need to explore for lessons of experience. Comparison is also impelled by the need to avoid familiar-type Africanist parochialism. Such chauvinism is inexcusable in view of the massive literature which has grown and is still growing from the scholarly study and policy analysis of borderlands situations in such other regions of the world as Western Europe and North America which have been exposed to relevant problems for much longer than in Africa.


Liav Orgad (2015) has written an admirably sensitive and learned book about besieged "majorities" in a world of global mobility and flux, especially that consisting of or conditioned by people moving across borders. It opens up an entirely new, dearly needed conversation on whether we need the concept of "majority", which hitherto has remained legally and normatively uncharted. But is there really a case for a "liberal theory of majority rights", analogous to a liberal theory of minority rights, both wishing to protect "personal identity and personal autonomy" (lead text, in the following "lt")? Orgad has the right instinct that the care of the majority should not be left to the populist right but taken serious by liberals and the political mainstream. But the notion of a "distinctive cultural majority" (lt), which he presents as "the inevitable outcome of multiculturalism", rests on an unreconstructed notion of multiculturalism; and at close inspection, much as the case for liberal minority rights, the case for distinct majority rights dissolves into a case for universal individual rights that liberal state constitutions already provide.


The data in this report summarises the responses gathered from 365 principle investigators of academic laboratories, who started their independent positions in the UK within the last 6 years up to 2018. We find that too many new investigators express frustration and poor optimism for the future. These data also reveal, that many of these individuals lack the support required to make a successful transition to independence and that simple measures could be put in place by both funders and universities in order to better support these early career researchers. We use these data to make both recommendations of good practice and for changes to policies that would make significant improvements to those currently finding independence challenging. We find that some new investigators face significant obstacles when building momentum and hiring a research team. In particular, access to PhD students. We also find some important areas such as starting salaries where significant gender differences persist, which cannot be explained by seniority. Our data also underlines the importance of support networks, within and outside the department, and the positive influence of good mentorship through this difficult career stage.


We propose a new nonlinear classification method based on a Bayesian ''sum-of-trees'' model, the Bayesian Additive Classification Tree (BACT), which extends the Bayesian Additive Regression Tree (BART) method into the classification context. Like BART, the BACT is a Bayesian nonparametric additive model specified by a prior and a likelihood in which the additive components are trees, and it is fitted by an iterative MCMC algorithm. Each of the trees learns a different part of the underlying function relating the dependent variable to the input variables, but the sum of the trees offers a flexible and robust model. Through several benchmark examples, we show that the BACT shows excellent performance. We apply the BACT technique to classify whether firms would be insolvent. This practical example is very important for banks to construct their risk profile and operate successfully. We use the German Creditreform database and classify the solvency status of German firms based on financial statement information. We show that the BACT is a serious competitor to the logit model, CART, the Support Vector Machine, random forest and gradient boosting.


Two novel species of Aspergillus section Nigri from Thai coffee beans are described as Aspergillus aculeatinus sp. nov. and Aspergillus sclerotiicarbonarius sp. nov. Their taxonomic status was determined using a polyphasic taxonomic approach with phenotypic (morphology and extrolite profiles) and molecular (beta-tubulin, internal transcribed spacer and calmodulin gene sequences) characteristics. A. aculeatinus sp. nov. is a uniseriate species with a similar morphology to Aspergillus aculeatus and Aspergillus japonicus, but producing smaller conidia (2-5 microm). A. aculeatinus sp. nov. produced neoxaline, secalonic acid D and F, and aculeacins. A. sclerotiicarbonarius sp. nov. is a biseriate species similar to Aspergillus carbonarius and Aspergillus ibericus, but produces abundant sclerotia and some unique indol-alkaloids. The type strain of Aspergillus sclerotiicarbonarius sp. nov. is CBS 121057(T) (=IBT 28362(T)) and the type strain of Aspergillus aculeatinus sp. nov. is CBS 121060(T) (=IBT 29077(T)).


High levels of self-control are found to be associated with greater life satisfaction. To further understand this relationship, the current study examined two questions: (1) whether too much self-control reduces, rather than increases, life satisfaction, as argued by some scholars; and (2) whether engaging in prosocial behavior explains the "self-control–life satisfaction" link. To this end, we conducted survey research among adolescents (N = 1,009), university students (N = 2,620), and adult workers (N = 500). All participants answered the same self-control and life satisfaction measures, whereas prosocial behavior was assessed using different scales across samples. Results of two-line regressions failed to reveal significant inverted-U shaped association between self-control and life satisfaction across samples. Moreover, results of mediation analyses showed that across samples, high levels of self-control were related to greater life satisfaction and this association was partly mediated by prosocial behavior. In conclusion, there is no evidence showing that too much self-control impairs life satisfaction. Engaging in prosocial behavior partly explains how high self-control relates to greater well-being.


In certain laminators for poly (ethylene-co-vinyl acetate) (EVA) encapsulation process of photovoltaic modules, cooling press (CP) is applied to the module after encapsulation. Here, the effect of CP on the optical transmission through common PV encapsulants is studied. Interestingly, CP is shown to reduce drastically the scattering of the light between 400 and 700 nm traveling through the thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO)-based encapsulant. Post-annealing tests prove this effect to be stable at the temperature up to 85°C. This work has discovered a simple solution to mitigate the milky appearance of the TPO encapsulant and hence greatly enhanced its competitiveness against EVA. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT


Despite extensive knowledge about abnormal lipid patterns in patients with end-stage renal disease, the association between cholesterol and the development of renal dysfunction is unclear. We evaluated this association in a prospective cohort study among 4,483 initially healthy men participating in the Physicians' Health Study who provided blood samples in 1982 and 1996. Main outcome measures were elevated creatinine, defined as >/= 1.5 mg/dl (133 micromol/L), and reduced estimated creatinine clearance, defined as </=55 ml/min. Cholesterol parameters included total cholesterol (<200, 200 to 239, and >/= 240 mg/dl), HDL (<40 or >/= 40 mg/dl), total non-HDL cholesterol, and the ratio of total cholesterol to HDL. We used logistic regression to calculate age- and multivariable adjusted odds ratios as a measure for the relative risk. After 14 yr, 134 men (3.0%) had elevated creatinine and 244 (5.4%) had reduced creatinine clearance. The multivariable relative risk for elevated creatinine was 1.77 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.10 to 2.86) for total cholesterol >/= 240 mg/dl, 2.16 (95% CI, 1.42 to 3.27) for HDL <40 mg/dl, 2.34 (95% CI, 1.34 to 4.07) for the highest quartile of total cholesterol/HDL ratio (>/= >6.8), and 2.16 (95% CI, 1.22 to 3.80) for the highest quartile of non-HDL cholesterol (>/= 196.1). Similar although smaller associations were observed between cholesterol parameters and reduced creatinine clearance. Elevated total cholesterol, high non-HDL cholesterol, a high ratio of total cholesterol/HDL, and low HDL in particular were significantly associated with an increased risk of developing renal dysfunction in men with an initial creatinine <1.5 mg/dl.


The main goal of this study is to explore some of the phonetic, morphological, and syntactic resources of same-turn self-repair initiation that are available to speakers of Wichita, an indigenous North American language from the Caddoan family. A 28-minute natural conversation between three Wichita speakers is coded and analyzed within a conversation analytic approach. Within this approach the study focuses on same-turn self-repair , a subtype of natural conversational repair process in which an emerging utterance is stopped by the current speaker in some way and is then aborted, recast, continued, or redone by the speaker within the same turn.Wichita is a polysynthetic language with complex morphology and morphophonemic alternations that accompany the formation of phrases and sentences (Rood 1976, 1996). Conversational analysis research in Wichita – and in structurally similar languages in general – is at a very early stage. This pioneering study thus focuses on a form-based analysis that illuminates the possible means for self-repair initiation in Wichita conversation, as well as giving insight into some of the phonetic and prosodic aspects that accompany the self-repair initiations. The study also touches on a few fundamental morphosyntactic issues by considering the nodes within complex Wichita "words" where self-repairs are generated. This detailed form-based analysis yields some interesting conclusions about morphosyntactic constraints on self-repair in a polysynthetic language. In particular, the study uncovers what the relationship between conversational repair, syntax, and morphology is and how these facets of interaction and grammar are interdependent (Schegloff 1979). Furthermore, the results of the study help enrich our general understanding of the function of self-repair in conversational interaction, either in terms of the types of variations that we can expect cross-linguistically or in terms of the generalizations that we can make about natural discourse structure. The discussion at the end of the paper sketches how some of the findings are, or are not, compatible with general results from previous work on same-turn self-repair as outlined by Schegloff, Jefferson, and Sacks (1977) and Jasperson (1998, 2002).


Abstract Jointed goatgrass is an important weed of wheat in the United States and other parts of the world. Under field conditions, wheat and jointed goatgrass can hybridize and produce backcross derivatives, a situation that may allow gene flow between these two species. In order to gain a better understanding of the factors governing gene flow, a study to characterize patterns of mating between these two species was undertaken. Chloroplast and nuclear microsatellite markers were used to evaluate the parentage of 413 first-generation backcross (BC1) seeds obtained from 127 wheat–jointed goatgrass F1 hybrids, produced naturally under field conditions. Of the 127 hybrids evaluated, 109 (85.8%) had jointed goatgrass as the female parent, whereas the remaining 18 F1 plants (14.2%) had wheat as the female parent. Of the 413 BC1 plants analyzed, 358 (86.7%) had wheat and 24 (5.8%) had jointed goatgrass as the male backcross parent. The male parentage of 31 BC1 (7.5%) plants could not be determined. Under natural field conditions, wheat was the prevalent pollen donor for the production of hybrids and first-generation backcross derivatives. However, hybrids and backcrosses with jointed goatgrass as the male parent also were observed. Thus, the establishment and persistence of a zone of hybridization between these species would result in the development of jointed goatgrass carrying wheat genes. Nomenclature: Jointed goatgrass, Aegilops cylindrica Host AEGCY; wheat, Triticum aestivum L.


Hippocampal astrocytes stimulated by TNF-α contribute to cognitive defects. Infection and neurodegenerative diseases, including multiple sclerosis, are associated with cognitive defects and both are associated with increased inflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor–α (TNF-α), in the brain. Because synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus is important for memory and cognition, Habbas et al. examined the effects of TNF-α on hippocampal glutamatergic synapses in mouse hippocampal slice preparations. Application of 600 pM of TNF-α, but not of a low concentration (60 pM), increased presynaptic activity as measured by the frequency of miniature postsynaptic excitatory currents (mEPSCs). This increase in mEPSC frequency induced by 600 pM TNF-α was absent upon preincubation of wild-type hippocampal slices with an antagonist of the NMDA-type glutamate receptor or in hippocampal slices from mice globally deficient in the TNF receptor (tnfr1–/–). Selective reintroduction of TNFR1 into astrocytes in tnfr1–/– mice rescued the synaptic plasticity–inducing effects of TNF-α on the hippocampal slices, indicating that TNF-α acted at astrocytes, which then signaled to the neurons to increase presynaptic activity. AT-EAE mice are a model of multiple sclerosis, and compared with control mice, AT-EAE mice exhibited impaired fear learning and memory, which correlated with increased TNF-α and an accumulation of microglia and leukocytes in the relevant region of the hippocampus. Hippocampal slices from AT-EAE mice showed an increase in mEPSC frequency that was blocked by treating the mice with the NDMA receptor antagonist. Analysis of fear memory in the AT-EAE model comparing control tnfr1–/– and mice in which TNFR was selectively restored in astrocytes confirmed that the astrocyte response to TNF-α contributed to impaired fear conditioning and memory. Because inflammatory responses are necessary for neuronal injury repair, yet also contribute to long-term neuronal dysfunction, this study suggests that it may be possible to selectively target pathological effects, such as impaired cognition, in neurodegenerative diseases without blocking the beneficial effects of inflammatory responses (see Osso and Chan). S. Habbas, M. Santello, D. Becker, H. Stubbe, G. Zappia, N. Liaudet, F. R. Klaus, G. Kollias, A. Fontana, C. R. Pryce, T. Suter, A. Volterra, Neuroinflammatory TNFα impairs memory via astrocyte signaling. Cell 163, 1730–1741 (2015). [PubMed] L. A. Osso, J. R. Chan, Astrocytes underlie neuroinflammatory memory impairment. Cell 163, 1574–1576 (2015). [PubMed]


Anharmonic guest atom oscillation has direct connection to the thermal transport and thermoelectric behavior of type-I Ba 8 Ga 16 Sn 30 clathrates. This behavior can be observed through several physical properties, with for example the heat capacity providing a measure of the overall excitation level structure. Localized anharmonic excitations also influence the low-temperature resistivity, as we show in this paper. By combining heat capacity, transport measurements, and our previous NMR relaxation results, we address the distribution of local oscillators in this material, as well as the shape of the confining potential and the excitation energies for Ba(2) ions in the cages. We also compare to the soft-potential model and other models used for similar systems. The results show good agreement between the previously deduced anharmonic rattler potential and experimental data.


First in a series of briefings explaining specific parts of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014. Each briefing sets out the new rights and responsibilities of looked after children, care leavers and carers, and the new duties, powers and expectations placed on public bodies. This briefing examines the changes introduced to 'Aftercare' services. These changes are the most substantive reforms of the looked after children's sector in many years, increasing the population eligible for 'Aftercare' support and introducing an obligation on local authorities to secure some care leavers in their looked after placement, up to their 21st birthday.


This article outlines the basic rules and promise of two of the simplest methods for solving problems of convection in porous media. First, scale analysis is the method that produces order‐of‐magnitude results and trends (scaling laws) for concrete and applicable results such as heat transfer rates, flow rates, and time intervals. Scale analysis also reveals the correct dimensionless form in which to present more exact results produced by more complicated methods. Second, the intersection of asymptotes method identifies the correct flow configuration (e.g. Bénard convection in a porous medium) by intersecting the two extremes in which the flow may exist: the many cells limit, and the few plumes limit. Every important feature of the flow and its transport characteristics is found at the intersection, i.e. at the point where the two extremes compete and find themselves in balance. The intersection is also the flow configuration that minimizes the global resistance to heat transfer through the system. This is an example of the constructal principle of deducing flow patterns by optimizing the flow geometry for minimal global resistance. The article stresses the importance of trying the simplest method first, and the researcher's freedom to choose the appropriate problem solving method. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The aim of this paper is to investigate whether the diffusion and the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) are associated with the size of the place of residence where people live. The article explores how the relationship between ICTs and place of residence changed between 1996 and 2009. The study presents data from two consecutive telephone surveys collected from Italy, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Spain. Results show an unexpected role of the relatively rural areas as attractor of new technologies. Although the largest cities have remained the locus of telecommunications on the whole, the relationship between ICTs and the place of abode has changed considerably during the 13 years studied. This is especially due to the innovative role played by the mobile phone. In 2009, although the mobile phone was independent from the place of abode, it was more diffused in relatively rural environments.


The meeting in 1774 between Lobsang Palden Yeshes (1738-1780), the Third Panchen Lama, and George Bogle (1746-1781), an agent of the East India Company, was the first encounter between Britain and Tibet. This remarkable moment in world history brought the Scottish Enlightenment into contact with Tibetan Lamaist Buddhism. The commentaries written during this episode are used to test the widely held view that Enlightenment thinking led to European imperialism. The evidence from this encounter shows that Enlightenment-era mentalities could be both supportive of and antipathetic to imperialism. The article ends by glancing briefly at Tibetan imperialism in an earlier period to suggest that both Buddhism and the Enlightenment were sometimes implicated in the creation of empires but that neither can be viewed as the root cause of imperialism.


The House of Lords' decision in OBG v Allan has prompted much academic debate about whether the tort of conversion should be expanded beyond its historic sphere of application, to protect intangible assets—such as contractual rights. This article seeks to advance this debate, by examining in detail the practical implications of an extended conversion tort for the contractual rights of banks' account-holding customers. It finds that, whilst it is technically possible to fashion an extended conversion tort to protect these rights, there is no pressing need for such protection, and the tort would be ill-equipped to offer a more coherent form of protection than is already available. These findings at least suggest reasons for caution. The creation of a new strict liability tort is a dramatic step, and would generate significant uncertainty in commercial transactions until case law has settled the scope of the tort and its practical implications in concrete settings. It seems right to demand that, before this leap is made, its practical benefits should be clearly demonstrated. I. INTRODUCTION Traditionally understood, the tort of conversion protects against unauthorised interferences with possessory rights to tangible goods. 1 In OBG v Allan, 2 the House of Lords was invited to expand the tort beyond its familiar territory. Receivers of a company in administration, acting consistently with their duties and in good faith, sold the company's chattels and allowed contractual debts due to the company to be settled for significantly less than the actual sums owing. It was subsequently discovered that, for technical reasons, the receivers had been invalidly appointed. 3 The company, now represented by a liquidator, sued the receivers inter alia in conversion for their unauthorised dealings with its assets. Conversion clearly lay in respect of the tangible goods, but it was also argued that, to protect the company's assets coherently, its intangible contractual rights should also be protected by the tort. Despite the obvious appeal of this argument on the facts, the House of Lords refused by a bare majority to move the tort's established boundaries judicially. The option of reform was left to the Law Commission and Parliament.


Vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 (VEGFR-2) has been shown to play a major role in inducing the full spectrum of VEGF biological response which is essential for tumor angiogenesis. We have demonstrated that immunotherapy of tumors with a vaccine based on quail homologous VEGFR-2 (qVEGFR) was effective in providing both protective and therapeutic antitumor immunity in several tumor models in mice. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the combination therapy of low-dose gemcitabine with qVEGFR as a vaccine could inhibit tumor growth to a greater extent. To test this concept, H22 hepatoma and Lewis lung carcinoma models were established in BALB/c mice and C57BL/6 mice, respectively. Mice were treated with either qVEGFR as a protein vaccine, gemcitabine, or both agents together. qVEGFR or low-dose chemotherapy treatment individuallyresulted in tumor inhibition to a certain extent.Remarkably, the combination therapy resulted in synergistic antitumor activity. Histological examination revealed that there was endothelial deposition of immunoglobulins within tumor tissues from mice treated with vaccine or combination therapy, especially intratumor angiogenesis was suppressed more significantly for the combination group. Also, ELISPOT analysis showed that mice treated with either qVEGFR alone or in combination with low-dose chemotherapy produced similar amount of anti-VEGFR antibody-producing B cells, which suggested that low-dose gemcitabine did not suppress the host's immune response, but potentiated the antitumor activity of the qVEGFR vaccine. Furthermore, TUNEL staining demonstrated a significant increase in the number of TUNEL-positive cells in the combination group compared with those of other groups. The observations may provide a new bio-chemotherapeutic approach for cancer.


This article explores the potential of liminal space to provide opportunities for collective reflection and healing in divided societies transitioning from conflict. In March 2015, acclaimed artist David Best brought his Burning Man phenomenon 'Temple' from the Nevada desert to a Northern Irish city in transition. Derry/Londonderry, where the politics of nomenclature is symptomatic of a populace still struggling over space and meaning, experienced acute levels of violence during 30 years of ethno-nationalist conflict. The legacy of that violence has produced a geography of entrenched residential segregation which has ironically sharpened since the onset of a peace process in the late 1990s. Its segregated streetscape is heavily scripted, conveying the trappings of continued division and narrating partisan interpretations of the past. Drawing on Till's concepts of wounded cities, memory-work and place-based care, and extending existing conceptualisations of liminality, this article suggests that Best's 'Temple' ruptured a memoryscape that largely prohibits shared explorations of the meaning and nature of the conflict. While measuring the 'success' of this spatial intervention is decidedly difficult, Best's temporary commemorative installation in a divided landscape offers a unique opportunity to examine the unexplored possibilities of creating liminal spaces which facilitate uncontested practices of memory within bounded, segregated space in divided societies. It is argued here that the concept of liminality might provide a new way of thinking about the twin processes of remembrance and peacebuilding in wounded cities.


ABSTRACT The offshore Indus Basin is a rift and passive margin basin offshore Pakistan and northwest India. Rifting associated with break up of the India/Madagascar/Seychelles plates began during the Late Cretaceous and was accompanied by a major period of volcanism associated with the Deccan volcanic event. A major volcanic centre was located along the south of the basin adjacent to the Saurashtra Arch transform fault and resulted in the deposition of up to 7 km of extrusive basalts interbedded with Late Cretaceous–Paleocene marine sediments. The basalts show stacked prograding reflection patterns on seismic data. A chain of northeast–southwest-trending volcanic seamounts in the central part of the deep-water basin formed topographic highs for the development of shallow-water carbonates during the Eocene post-rift phase. The passive margin stratigraphy includes up to 9 km of Oligocene–Recent age clastic sediments from the Indus River system. The proximal part of the Indus Fan contains spectacular large-scale channel-levees in the Miocene and Plio-Pleistocene intervals. Fourteen major channel-levee systems have been identified in the Plio-Pleistocene and represent potential reservoir targets. Trap types include extensional rollover anticlines at the shelf edge, drape structures over the Eocene carbonate highs, stratigraphic traps along the Murray Ridge and folds associated with strike-slip faults along the Murray Ridge. A key challenge for future exploration is to determine whether source rocks are present in sufficient quality for commercial discoveries.


A failure detection service is perfect if it eventually detects all failures and every detection correctly identifies a failure that has already occurred. Such a perfect failure detection service serves as a basic building block for many reliable distributed systems, for example in primary/backup replication protocols and distributed lock services. In this paper, we present a comprehensive study on applying quorum systems to the perfect failure detection service in order to enhance the fault tolerance of the service. We provide the precise system model and specification for a quorum-based failure detection service. We prove that stable storage is necessary if the server processes may crash and recover in the middle of the service. We present two novel algorithms that implement the failure detection service and have complementary characteristics. We further develop a set of quality-of-service (QoS) metrics for quorum-based perfect failure detection services, and apply probabilistic analysis to quantify the QoS metrics of the two algorithms.


The planning and design of transport systems have an important part in leading travellers to more sustainable and efficient choices. Car-dependence is a prominent problem to be solved in order to reduce traffic congestion. It also affects the general efficiency with which people can travel in urban areas, the environmental impacts of traffic, the structure of towns and settlements and consequently the liveability of the cities. Traditional models of travel behaviour, commonly looking at aggregated choices tend to ignore the complexity of the travel choice problem, where many decision makers influencing each other in a dynamic process of social interactions in various domains and through various types of social network. In this work we present a methodology to model social interactions and their influence on travel choices. The methodology, based on multi-agent simulation, is explained using an example demonstrating the influence of the social interactions on travellers' behaviour during the implementation of a demand management measure. Some behavioural insights obtained from the example are also discussed


The nanotubes and nanofibers of polyaniline (PANI) were successfully synthesized by a template-free and interfacial polymerization method respectively in the presence of tetrakis(4-sulfonatophenyl)porphyrin (TSPP) as a dopant. The tubular and fibrous morphologies of the TSPP–PANI were confirmed by TEM images. The morphology of TSPP–PANI can be changed from nanotube to cauliflower by simply changing the volume ratio of the dopant to the aniline monomer as confirmed by SEM images. It was observed that the formation of nanotubes (by the template-free method) was independent of the dopant, but the dopant was associated with interfacial polymerization for the formation of nanofibers. It might be the electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions between the water dispersible porphyrin complex [TSPP–(NH4)2S2O8] and the dimer cation-radical surfactant which are responsible for the formation of nanofibers. The resulting materials were also characterized by conductivity, solubility, FTIR and UV-vis spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and cyclic voltammetry.


INTRODUCTION The Accessibility Quotient (AQ), a new measure for assisting authors and librarians in assessing and characterizing the degree of accessibility for a group of papers, is proposed and described. The AQ offers a concise measure that assesses the accessibility of peer-reviewed research produced by an individual or group, by incorporating data on open availability to readers worldwide, the degree of financial barrier to access, and journal quality. The paper reports on the context for developing this measure, how the AQ is calculated, how it can be used in faculty outreach, and why it is a useful lens to use in assessing progress towards more open access to research. METHODS Journal articles published in 2009 and 2010 by faculty members from one department in each of MIT's five schools were examined. The AQ was calculated using economist Ted Bergstrom's Relative Price Index to assess affordability and quality, and data from SHERPA/RoMEO to assess the right to share the peer-reviewed version of an article. RESULTS The results show that 2009 and 2010 publications by the Media Lab and Physics have the potential to be more open than those of Sloan (Management), Mechanical Engineering, and Linguistics & Philosophy. DISCUSSION Appropriate interpretation and applications of the AQ are discussed and some limitations of the measure are examined, with suggestions for future studies which may improve the accuracy and relevance of the AQ. CONCLUSION The AQ offers a concise assessment of accessibility for authors, departments, disciplines, or universities who wish to characterize or understand the degree of access to their research output, capturing additional dimensions of accessibility that matter to faculty.