Few non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have been involved in work with wildlife diseases and the One Health concept. However, there are several NGOs and scientific institutions, on international and national levels, that can potentially play a significant role in furthering the objectives of the One Health concept by contributing to wildlife health or wildlife disease knowledge and collaborations. This is because many NGOs have dedicated members that voluntarily become involved in the wildlife aspect of the One Health concept, in many different ways. The authors have identified six international organisations, and ten national organisations that could well be involved in this work. They recommend that the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) Delegates, and OIE National Focal Points for Wildlife in different countries, focus on establishing links and collaboration between the Veterinary Services (including Focal Points) and various NGOs, as well as scientific institutions both on a national level and international level.


Internet public social media and forums provide a convenient channel for people concerned about public health issues, such as COVID-19, to share and discuss information/misinformation with each other. In this paper, we propose a natural language processing (NLP) method based on Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory (Bi-LSTM) technique to perform sentiment classification and uncover various issues related to COVID-19 public opinions. Bi-LSTM is an improved version of conventional LSTMs for generating the output from both left and right contexts at each time step. We experimented with real datasets extracted from Twitter and Reddit social media platforms, and our experimental results showed improved metrics compared with the conventional LSTM model as well as recent studies available in the literature. The proposed model can be used by official institutions to mitigate the effects of negative messages and to understand peoples' concerns during the pandemic. Furthermore, our findings shed light on the importance of using NLP techniques to analyze public opinion and to combat the spreading of misinformation and to guide health decision-making. The obtained F1-score scores show that our Bi-LSTM model presents very satisfactory performances with 98%, 97%, and 98% for Negative, Positive, and Neutral classes, respectively.


Next generation Global Navigation Satellite Systems will open the door to a whole new field of applications, for example in Earth observation, construction, and safety-of-life navigation. This implies very high requirements not only on precision and availability, but also on reliability. Integer carrier phase ambiguity resolution is the key to (near) real-time and high-precision GNSS positioning and navigation. The reliability of integer ambiguity estimation depends on the strength of the underlying GNSS model and on the applied integer estimation method. This brings certain challenges and limitations that need to be addressed and have not all been solved so far. The aim of this contribution is to address these remaining challenges and limitations: it will be explained why it is important to do so, and how solutions can be obtained. Experimental results will be used to underpin the importance and potential improvement in terms of precision and/or reliability.


Due to restrictions on feeding and management on low input farms, there are vast differences between cattle on low input and conventional farms. Therefore, variance components of the same traits recorded in low input and conventional populations might be different. Even if the variance components were different, the necessities of setting up an overall breeding goal and implementing an own breeding program in organic production system are still open to further discussion. The first objective of this study was to estimate variance components of production, reproduction and health traits measured on Brown Swiss on low input farms in Switzerland. On the other hand, breeding strategies with consideration of genomic selection on both conventional and low input farms were compared by applying stochastic simulations.

Test-day data for milk yield (MY), fat percentage (Fat%), protein percentage (Pro%), lactose percentage (Lac%), somatic cell score (SCS), and milk urea nitrogen (MUN) were available on 1,283 cows kept in 54 small low input farms. For Gaussian distributed production traits mentioned above, a multi-trait random regression animal model (RRM) was applied with days in milk (DIM) as a time-dependent covariate. In general, daily heritabilities of production traits followed the pattern as found for high input production systems. Female fertility traits including number of inseminations (NI), stillbirth (SB), calving ease (CE), calving to first service (CTFS), days open (DO), and gestation length (GL) were analyzed with parity as a time covariate. Threshold methodology was applied for the first three traits. In most of case, heritabilities of reproduction traits were lower than 0.1. A threshold-linear sire model was applied to estimate daily correlations between MY, Fat%, Pro%, SCS, MUN and the binary distributed fertility trait conception rate (CR). Pronounced antagonistic relationships between MY and CR were in the range of -0.40 to -0.80 from DIM 20 to DIM 200. Estimated genetic parameters for reproduction traits were partly different from those estimated in high input production systems.

Phenotypic records for mastitis, metritis, retained placenta, ovarian cysts and acetonemia were available from the same cows as for production and reproduction traits, while the number of cows changed to 1,247. The five health traits were defined as binary data, categorical data and longitudinal binary data respectively. Binary data recorded between days in milk -1 and 120 were analyzed by linear models as well as threshold models with probit link function. Categorical data counted the total number of diseases during the same period and the data were analyzed by linear models and Poisson mixed models respectively. The longitudinal binary data were analyzed by linear and threshold repeatability models and RRM respectively. Apart from moderate heritabilities for mastitis (0.32) and retained placenta (0.39), heritabilities were generally low for binary and categorical traits. Repeatabilities and heritabilities of longitudinal traits estimated from repeatability models were also low. The highest daily heritabilities for all health traits were found at the beginning of lactation and at the end of the defined interval. Generally, threshold models were favored by a low Bayesian information criterion except threshold RRM.

A stochastic simulation study was carried out with a focus on an application of genomic selection in dairy cattle breeding programs, to compare true breeding values (TBV) from a variety of selection schemes. Heritability of trait of interest was low (0.1) or moderate (0.3) and genomic estimated breeding value (GEBV) was imitated by the defined accuracy, which was between 0.5 and 0.9. Three breeding strategies were simulated in total, including selection of bull calves based on pedigree index, genotyped parents and genotyped bull calves themselves. A variety of scenarios were assumed within last two breeding strategies, indicating different pre-selection criteria for each strategy. Schemes of genotyping parents of the future bulls were similar with the classical young bull program, but TBV from these schemes were competitive or superior. The highest average TBV was found to be in scenarios of genotyping young male candidates. Only if the pre-fined accuracy of GEBV was greater than 0.5, TBV of the idealistic scenario, genotyping all male calves, was competitive with scenarios of genotyping pre-selected male calves based on estimated breeding values (EBV) of bull dams or the average GEBV of bull parents. Hence, genotyping young male candidates should be most suitable strategy for breeding organizations.

In the forth part of this thesis, another stochastic simulation was applied to compare TBV and inbreeding coefficients of organic breeding program designs. Basically, three breeding strategies were simulated: i) selection of sires from conventional population with consideration of genotype by environment (G x E) interactions, ii) selection of genotyped sires from the low input population for AI, iii) selection of genotyped nature service sires (NSS) in each of the organic herd. Heritabilities of the simulated traits were 0.05 and 0.3 respectively. The G x E interactions were realized by considering genetic correlations between traits of interest recorded in different environments (rg = 0.5 to 1). GEBV were generated with accuracy (rmg) between 0.5 and 1. The average TBV of the 5 best genotyped AI sires from organic environment was always higher than selection of sires from conventional population on EBV. If the selection criterion was GEBV in both environments, rg ≤ 0.80 is the general threshold favouring selection in the organic population. Genotyped NSS were competitive with selection of sires based on EBV in conventional population, only if the significant G x E interactions (rg = 0.5) was exited between two environments and accuracy of genotyped NNS was high (rmg ≥ 0.9). Inbreeding of selected sire and their progeny could be reduced when using genomic breeding program.


Today's labor-scarce economies have open trade and closed immigration policies, while a century ago they had just the opposite, open immigration and closed trade policies. Why the inverse policy correlation, and why has it persisted for almost two centuries? This paper seeks answers to this dual policy paradox by exploring the fundamentals which have influenced the evolution of policy: the decline in the costs of migration and its impact on immigrant selectivity, a secular switch in the net fiscal impact of trade relative to immigration, and changes in the median voter. The paper also offers explanations for the between-country variance in voter anti-trade and anti-migration attitude, and links this to the fundamentals pushing policy.


Hundreds of recycled water schemes have been successfully established in Australia. However, water quality and risks on human health and the environment associated with particular end uses (e.g. irrigation, industrial uses, nonpotable urban uses, groundwater recharges, indirect and direct potable reuses) are still of great concern which can limit the application and extension of recycled water. This study analyses representative recycled water schemes in Australia with regard to the sources and corresponding risks of recycled water, risk assessment approaches as well as practical risk control methods towards various end uses. To quantify the risks, this study proposes a probabilistic assessment approach for existing and future water recycling schemes. With the assistance of MATLAB toolbox, the model was able to fit observed data to probability distribution functions (PDFs) and express the percent removal in PDF rather than point values. This approach could be helpful in quantifying risk or percent removal of potential hazards which involve a degree of variability and randomness. The analytical results, when couple with other environmental assessment tools are convinced to be useful for integrated water planning and management in Australia.


Over the past decade, African governments have followed the worldwide trends towards establishing egovernment with the aim of improving public service delivery to citizens through the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). As a consequence, authors from academia, government departments and agencies, civil society, industry, non-governmental and international organizations have embarked into e-government research focusing on Africa. However, the state of the art of egovernment research in Africa is poorly documented. This study analyzes the status of e-government research in Africa. A qualitative technique based on online searches and literature reviews is used to collect data that have addressed any aspect of e-government development in Africa. Thereafter, the content analysis of the reviewed literature is performed. The results of the study show: (1) the growth pattern of Africa e-government research within a period of 10 years from 2002 to 2012, (2) the issues addressed by the researchers on e-government development in Africa, (3) the African countries and regional participation in e-government research in Africa, and (4) the affiliation and expertise of authors undertaking research on e-government in Africa. These results provide useful insights that might be of interest to African governments, industry and academia for the future development of e-government on the continent. Also included in the paper is an annotated bibliography of e-government research.


To achieve accurate DNA synthesis, DNA polymerases must rapidly sample and discriminate against incorrect nucleotides. Here we report the crystal structure of a high fidelity DNA polymerase I bound to DNA primer-template caught in the act of binding a mismatched (dG:dTTP) nucleoside triphosphate. The polymerase adopts a conformation in between the previously established "open" and "closed" states. In this "ajar" conformation, the template base has moved into the insertion site but misaligns an incorrect nucleotide relative to the primer terminus. The displacement of a conserved active site tyrosine in the insertion site by the template base is accommodated by a distinctive kink in the polymerase O helix, resulting in a partially open ternary complex. We suggest that the ajar conformation allows the template to probe incoming nucleotides for complementarity before closure of the enzyme around the substrate. Based on solution fluorescence, kinetics, and crystallographic analyses of wild-type and mutant polymerases reported here, we present a three-state reaction pathway in which nucleotides either pass through this intermediate conformation to the closed conformation and catalysis or are misaligned within the intermediate, leading to destabilization of the closed conformation.


This paper reviews the empirical literature on the impact of economic downturns on infant mortality. Drawing on this, it examines the possible impact of the presently unfolding global economic slowdown. While there is scope for further improving our understanding of the links between economic trends and infant mortality, the available empirical evidence does suggest that children face grave risks if the social impact of the global slowdown is unmitigated. There is also a risk that the global slowdown could undermine recent progress in reducing infant mortality. The analysis and evidence underscore several key areas for policy responses: a) providing humanitarian relief, including health and nutrition interventions to the most hard-hit and vulnerable groups; b) expanding social protection to the poorest and most vulnerable; and c) resuscitating growth in a way that is pro-poor and ensures that the recovery of household incomes—notably among the poor and low income households—is robust and sustained. The main message of this paper for policymakers is that, based on empirical evidence on past crises, the possible impact of the present crisis on infant mortality is nothing that cannot be mitigated by policies that protect children and women and ensure sufficient social investments in the first place.


Recent advances in cooperative technology and classical communication are based entirely on the assumption that the Internet and active networks are not in conflict with object-oriented languages. In fact, few information theorists would disagree with the visualization of DHTs that made refining and possibly simulating 8 bitarchitectures a reality, which embodies the compelling principles of electrical engineering. In this work we better understand how digital-to-analog converters can be applied to the development of e-commerce.


The immune system has been battling viral infections over the course of millions of years in primate evolution. The constant evolution of hosts and viruses to defeat the other has led to a high stakes genetic arms race. Here I present a detailed study of three antiviral proteins locked in antagonistic viral conflict called Tetherin, Viperin and SAMHD1. Using a combined approach of virology and evolutionary biology, I have reconstructed their evolutionary arms race between primates and lentiviruses, including HIV-1, HIV-2 and related SIVs. The broad themes that emerge from my research are two-fold. First, lentiviruses are able to evolve new functions within existing gene repertoires to counteract rapidly evolving host antiviral genes. Second, hosts escape from viral pressure either by single amino acid changes or by deletions of a 'susceptibility domain'. Thus, my thesis research has helped define the rules by which host-virus arms races ensue. Based on my findings, we contend that the host evolutionary framework is a fundamental pillar of antiviral restriction.


The Ihara limit (or constant) A(q) has been a central problem of study in the asymptotic theory of global function fields (or equivalently, algebraic curves over finite fields). It addresses global function fields with many rational points and, so far, most applications of this theory do not require additional properties. Motivated by recent applications, we require global function fields with the additional property that their zero class divisor groups contain at most a small number of d -torsion points. We capture this with the notion of torsion limit, a new asymptotic quantity for global function fields. It seems that it is even harder to determine values of this new quantity than the Ihara constant. Nevertheless, some nontrivial upper bounds are derived. Apart from this new asymptotic quantity and bounds on it, we also introduce Riemann-Roch systems of equations. It turns out that this type of equation system plays an important role in the study of several other problems in each of these areas: arithmetic secret sharing, symmetric bilinear complexity of multiplication in finite fields, frameproof codes, and the theory of error correcting codes. Finally, we show how our new asymptotic quantity, our bounds on it and Riemann-Roch systems can be used to improve results in these areas.


An empirical methodology is developed for statistically testing the hedging effectiveness among competing futures contracts. The presented methodology is based on the encompassing principle, widely used in the forecasting literature, and applied here to minimum variance hedging regressions. Intuitively, the test is based on an alternative futures contract's ability to reduce residual basis risk by offering either diversification or a smaller absolute level of basis risk than a preferred futures contract. The methodology is easily extended to cases involving multiple hedging instruments and general hedge ratio models. Empirical applications suggest that the encompassing methodology can provide information beyond traditional approaches of comparing hedging effectiveness.


Mammalian ovaries contain sympathetic neurons expressing the low affinity neurotropin receptor (p75NTR). To date neither the role these neurons might play in ovarian physiology nor their embryological origin is known. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect postnatal changes in distribution and number of both p75NTR-positive and tyrosine hydroxylase-positive neurons in rhesus monkey ovaries. Pig fetuses were used to map the pathway of ovarian neuronal migration during embryonic development. Antiserum to p75NTR revealed the presence of isolated neurons and neurons clustered into ganglia in 2-month-old monkey ovaries. After 8 months, the neurons exhibited well-developed processes, and other than being more extensively interlaced, the localization and morphology did not change after 2 yr of age. Total number of p75NTR-positive neurons present decreased gradually between 2 months and 12 yr of age and declined markedly with reproductive aging. Conversely, the subpopulation of neurons immunoreactive to anti-tyrosine hydroxylase increased significantly at puberty and then declined with the loss of reproductive capacity. By d 21 of fetal life in the pig, p75NTR neurons had migrated medially from the neural crest to form the paraaortic autonomic ganglia. Some neurons migrated ventrally from the ganglia and then continued ventrolaterally to enter the genital ridge. By d 27, neurons had entered the developing ovary, and by d 35, the migration was complete with neurons demonstrating immunoreactivity to NeuN, a neuron-specific marker. Results demonstrate that p75NTR-expressing ovarian neurons originate from the neural crest and that a catecholaminergic subset is associated with pubertal maturation of the ovary and subsequent reproductive function.


In the western US, Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus Bonaparte [Phasianidae]) have become an indicator species of the overall health of the sagebrush (Artemisia L. [Asteraceae]) dominated communities that support a rich diversity of flora and fauna. This species has an integral association with sagebrush, its understory forbs and grasses, and the invertebrate community dependent on that flora. Adult birds and their growing chicks consume a wide variety of understory species, and the invertebrates that develop on this flora are an important source of protein, especially for developing broods. Restoration plans for degraded sagebrush communities must consider outplanting the correct species and seed source of sagebrush and its diverse array of native forbs. Changes in climate and the problem with invasive species, especially annual grasses that spawn large-scale fires, will need to be addressed so that restoration efforts can succeed.


OBJECTIVE
To assess primary care provider (PCP) attitudes and self-reported behavior with regard to identifying and managing depression in adult patients before and after a chronic disease/collaborative care intervention.

METHOD
A self-administered cross-sectional survey was conducted in 6 targeted practices among 39 family practice physicians, family nurse practitioners, and residents before and after implementation of a depression in primary care project. In this project, the sites received tools and training in depression screening and guideline-concordant treatment, facilitated referral services for patients to access mental health providers, psychiatric phone consultation, patient education materials, and services of a depression care manager. The project was conducted from June 2003 through June 2006.

RESULTS
Comparison of responses prior to and after the intervention showed that significantly or nearly significantly larger proportions of PCPs endorsed the importance of depression as a patient presenting problem (p = .000), increased provision of supportive counseling (p = .13), more often identified counseling or therapy as effective (p = .07), and more often referred patients to mental health services (p = .001). PCPs also reduced their perception that treating depression is time consuming (p = .000).

CONCLUSIONS
After a chronic disease/collaborative care approach to depression treatment in primary care was implemented, PCP attitudes and behaviors about depression treatment were significantly modified. More guideline-concordant care, and increased collaboration with mental health services, was reported. Implications for future primary care depression intervention activities and research are discussed.


Ortho-Radial drawings are a generalization of orthogonal drawings to grids that are formed by concentric circles and straight-line spokes emanating from the circles' center. Such drawings have applications in schematic graph layouts, e.g., for metro maps and destination maps.

A plane graph is a planar graph with a fixed planar embedding. We give a combinatorial characterization of the plane graphs that admit a planar ortho-radial drawing without bends. Previously, such a characterization was only known for paths, cycles, and theta graphs, and in the special case of rectangular drawings for cubic graphs, where the contour of each face is required to be a rectangle.

The characterization is expressed in terms of an ortho-radial representation that, similar to Tamassia's orthogonal representations for orthogonal drawings describes such a drawing combinatorially in terms of angles around vertices and bends on the edges. In this sense our characterization can be seen as a first step towards generalizing the Topology-Shape-Metrics framework of Tamassia to ortho-radial drawings.


Diversification is a common goal for many small firms, yet research examining whether small firm ownership structure influences their use of the tactic is limited. As such, this paper provides one of the first empirical investigations of the subject by examining whether the presence of a corporate parent positively influences the likelihood that small firms will utilize diversification. Results indicate that small firms with corporate parents are more likely to use both related and unrelated diversification than comparable firms that are independently owned. Such findings are noteworthy because diversification may be more beneficial for small, independently owned firms, yet small, subsidiary firms appear to be better able to utilize diversification. Implications of these findings are discussed.


I examine how matrilineal relative to patrilineal kinship systems affect spousal cooperation. In matrilineal kinship systems, lineage and inheritance are traced through women. The structure of matrilineal kinship systems implies that, relative to patrilineal kinship systems, women have greater support from their own kin groups, and husbands have less authority over their wives. I use experimental and physiological measures and a geographic regression discontinuity design along the matrilineal belt in Africa to test how kinship systems affect spousal cooperation. Men and women from matrilineal ethnic groups cooperate less with their spouses in a lab experiment. This is not the case when paired with a stranger of the opposite sex. I examine the implications of matrilineal kinship for the well-being of women and children. Children of matrilineal women are healthier and better educated, and matrilineal women experience less domestic violence. The results highlight how household outcomes are tied to broader social structures.


Paclitaxel (PAC) is associated with chemotherapy‐induced neuropathic pain (CIPN) that can lead to the cessation of treatment in cancer patients even in the absence of alternate therapies. We previously reported that chronic administration of the non‐psychoactive cannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD) prevents PAC‐induced mechanical and thermal sensitivity in mice. Hence, we sought to determine receptor mechanisms by which CBD inhibits CIPN and whether CBD negatively effects nervous system function or chemotherapy efficacy.


The three-phase two-level voltage source converter (VSC) is widely employed in power conversions between ac and dc for its four-quadrant operation and control flexibility. However, it suffers from the low output voltage range with a peak value of half dc-link per phase, which necessitates the use of either high dc-link voltage or bulky step-up transformer to enable the medium voltage operation. Additionally, the high common-mode (CM) voltage between ac loads neutral points and ground may reduce the service life and reliability of electric machinery. In this paper, a three-phase ac-side voltage-doubling VSC topology with intrinsic buck-boost cell is analyzed. By this configuration, the ac-side voltage is doubled with the phase peak value equal to dc link. That is, only half of the dc-side capacitor bank is needed to generate the same output voltage. The proposed converter uses its buck-boost cell as a virtual voltage source to synthesize negative half of the output voltage by modulating its output ac phase voltage around the negative bus (which is the real zero when grounded). This permits the average CM voltage to be suppressed to zero, and loads connected to converter ac side not to withstand any dc voltage stress (reducing the insulation requirement). Modeling and control design for both rectifier and inverter modes of this converter in synchronous reference frame have been investigated to ensure a four-quadrant three-phase back-to-back system. Experimental results have verified the feasibility and the effectiveness of the proposed configuration and the designed control strategies.


Pair programming is a software development technique where two programmers work together at a single PC. Over the past few years, pair programming has emerged as a promising method for creating higher-quality software in a time-efficient manner. It is a central aspect of many agile software development methods. While prior research has demonstrated the effectiveness of pair programming, there is still limited understanding as to when and why it is effective. Our research into the underlying reasons for success – and limitations of – pair programming employs a twophase method. In the first phase, we are conducting ethnographic studies of software development teams in industry that currently employ pair programming. We will use the results of this phase of the research to drive the second phase of the research: a laboratory study of pair programming with professional developers as participants.


Wireless communication systems in the terahertz (THz) frequency range promise to dramatically increase available bandwidth in the electromagnetic spectrum. These wireless systems will require filtering techniques capable of operating in this relatively unused part of the spectrum. Here, we report a versatile technique for designing different classes of THz plasmonic filters based on a k-space methodology, in which the desired frequency response is mapped into two-dimensional (2D) k-space and then inverse Fourier transformed into the spatial domain. We use a recently developed inkjet printing technique to fabricate the spatial patterns allowing for grayscale conductivity variation. In general, any technique that allows for high-fidelity reproduction of the real-space grayscale variation in the fabricated plasmonic structure can be used. We demonstrate the flexibility of this approach by creating several classes of filters that allow for changes in the relative magnitudes in multiresonant filters; the polarization dependence, where the anisotropy can be carefully controlled; and the resonance bandwidth. We further demonstrate that, by cascading or adding filter functions together, even more complex filter designs can be achieved. We expect this approach to dramatically expand the design capabilities for filter technology for THz systems applications, such as THz wireless communications as well as applications in other spectral regions.


A Mobile Ad hoc Network (MANET) is a network that consists of mobile nodes and is autonomously managed without infrastructure base stations such as access points. MANETs have started being used as part of safety critical applications. A Vehicular Ad hoc Network (VANET) used in automated driving systems is such an example. In such applications, defects in the network protocol may cause serious social problems. Model checking, a state search-based verification technique, has proven to be effective in finding faults in complex system designs, such as communication protocols. However it is challenging to apply this technique to MANET protocols, because a MANET can have a number of different network topologies, thus resulting in the state explosion problem very easily. In this paper we propose a modeling technique to mitigate this problem using the AODV protocol as a running example. MANET protocols, such as AODV, typically enforce a source node that wishes to establish a route to the destination to retry the route establishing process some fixed number of times in face of failures. We show that to model check the protocol's behavior in these retries it suffices to consider only the last trial. The results of experiments using the SPIN model checker show that using the proposed technique significantly reduced the time and memory usage compared to standard full state exploration and allowed us to model check the protocol with up to five nodes.


Functional infrared imaging (fIRI) is used to provide information on circulation, thermal properties and thermoregulatory function of the cutaneous tissue in several clinical settings. This study aims to evaluate the application of fIRI in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) assessment, evaluating the thermoregulatory alterations due to joint inflammation in RA patients both in basal conditions and after a mild functional (isometric) exercise, using the same protocol we projected in our recent work on psoriatic arthritis (PsA); fIRI outcomes were compared with those provided by power-Doppler ultrasonography. Ten patients with RA and 11 healthy controls were enrolled in the study. The cutaneous temperature dynamics of 20 regions of interest located on the dominant hand were recorded by means of high-resolution thermal imaging at baseline and after a functional exercise. RA patients showed lower thermal parameters compared to healthy controls, suggesting that the RA-related inflammatory state alters the normal thermal properties of the skin overlying inflamed joints. These results are different from PsA data observed in the previous study. fIRI applied to the study of the response to a functional stimulus may represent an innovative, non-invasive, and operator-independent method for the assessment of early RA.


Objective: To evaluate a possible association of glioma or meningioma with use of cellular telephones, using a nationwide population-based case-control study of incident cases of meningioma and glioma. Methods: The authors ascertained all incident cases of glioma and meningioma diagnosed in Denmark between September 1, 2000, and August 31, 2002. They enrolled 252 persons with glioma and 175 persons with meningioma aged 20 to 69. The authors also enrolled 822 randomly sampled, population-based controls matched for age and sex. Information was obtained from personal interviews, medical records containing diagnoses, and the results of radiologic examinations. For a small number of cases and controls, the authors obtained the numbers of incoming and outgoing calls. They evaluated the memory of the respondents with the Mini-Mental State Examination and obtained data on socioeconomic factors from Statistics Denmark. Results: There were no material socioeconomic differences between cases and controls or participants and non-participants. Use of cellular telephone was associated with a low risk for high-grade glioma (OR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.37 to 0.90). The risk estimates were closer to unity for low-grade glioma (1.08; 0.58 to 2.00) and meningioma (1.00; 0.54 to 1.28). Conclusion: The results do not support an association between use of cellular telephones and risk for glioma or meningioma.


Mass sporting events in the summertime are influenced by underlying weather patterns, with high temperatures posing a risk for spectators and athletes alike. To better understand weather variations in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) during the Pan American Games in 2015 (PA15 Games), Environment and Climate Change Canada deployed a mesoscale monitoring network system of 53 weather stations. Spatial maps across the GTA demonstrate large variations by heat metric (e.g., maximum temperature, humidex, and wet bulb globe temperature), identifying Hamilton, Ontario as an area of elevated heat and humidity, and hence risk for heat-related illness. A case study of the Hamilton Soccer Center examined on-site thermal comfort during a heat event and PA15 Soccer Games, demonstrating that athletes and spectators were faced with thermal discomfort and a heightened risk of heat-related illness. Results are corroborated by First Aid and emergency response data during the events, as well as insight from personal experiences and Twitter feed. Integrating these results provides new information on potential benefits to society from utilizing mesonet systems during large-scale sporting events. Results further improve our understanding of intra-urban heat variability and heat-health burden. The benefits of utilizing more comprehensive modeling approaches for human heat stress that coincide with fine-scale weather information are discussed.


Objective – To better understand music information seeking behaviour in a real life situation and to create a taxonomy relating to this behaviour to facilitate better comparison of music information retrieval studies in the future.

Design – Content analysis of natural language queries.

Setting – Google Answers, a fee based online service.

Subjects – 1,705 queries and their related answers and comments posted in the music category of the Google Answers website before April 27, 2005.

Methods – A total of 2,208 queries were retrieved from the music category on the Google Answers service. Google Answers was a fee based service in which users posted questions and indicated what they were willing to pay to have them answered.
The queries selected for this study were posted prior to April 27, 2005, over a year before the service was discontinued completely. Of the 2208 queries taken from the site, only 1,705 were classified as relevant to the question of music information seeking by the researcher. The off-topic queries were not included in the study.

Each of the 1,705 queries was coded according to the needs expressed by the user and the information provided to assist researchers in answering the question. The initial coding framework used by the researcher was informed by previous studies of music information retrieval to facilitate comparison, but was expanded and revised to reflect the evidence itself.

Only the questions themselves were subjected to this iterative coding process. The answers provided by the Google Answer researchers and online comments posted by other users were examined by the author, but not coded for inclusion in the study.
User needs in the questions were coded for their form and topic. Each question was assigned at least one form and one topic. Form refers to the type of question being asked and consisted of the following 10 categories: identification, location, verification, recommendation, evaluation, ready reference, reproduction, description, research, and other. Reproduction in this context is defined as "questions asking for text" and referred most often to questions looking for song lyrics, while evaluation typically meant the user was seeking reviews of works (p. 1029). Sixteen question topics were outlined in the coding framework. They included lyrics, translation, meaning (i.e., of lyrics), score, work, version, recording (e.g., where is an album available for purchase), related work, genre, artist, publisher, instrument, statistics, background (e.g. definitions), resource (i.e. sources of music information) and other.

The questions were also coded for their features or the information provided by the user. The final coding framework outlined 57 features, some of which were further subdivided by additional attributes. For example, a feature with attributes was title. The researcher further clarified the attribute of title by indicating whether the user mentioned the title of a musical work, recording, printed material or related work in their question. More than one feature could appear in a user query.

Main Results – Overall, the most common questions posted on the Google Answers service relating to music involved identifying works or artists, finding recordings, or retrieving lyrics. The most popular query forms were identification (43.8%), location (33.3%), and reproduction (10.9%). The most common topics were work (49.1%), artist (36.4%), recording (16.7%), and lyrics (10.4%). The most common features provided by users in their posted questions were person name (53%), title (50.9%), date (45.6%), genre (37.2%), role (33.8%), and lyric (27.6%). The person name usually referred to an artist's name (in 95.6% of cases) and title most often referred to the title of a musical work. Another feature that appeared in 25.6% of queries was place reference, almost half of which referred to the place where the user encountered the music they were enquiring about. While the coding framework eventually encompassed 57 different features, a small number of features dominated, with seven features used in over 25% of the queries posted and 33 features appearing in less than 10%. The seven most common features were person name, title, date, genre, role, lyric, and place reference.

Lee categorized most of the queries as "known-item searches," even though at times users provided incorrect information and many were looking for information about the musical item but not the item itself (p. 1035). Other interesting features identified by the author were the presence of "dormant searches," long standing questions a user had about a musical item, sometimes for years, which were reawakened by hearing the song again or other events (p. 1037). Multiple versions of musical works and the provision of information gleaned third hand by users were also identified as complicating factors in correctly meeting musical information needs.

Conclusion – While certain types of questions dominated among music queries posted on the Google Answers service, there were a wide variety of music information needs expressed by users. In some cases, the features provided by the user as clues to answering the query were very personal, and related to the context in which they encountered the work or the mood a particular work or artist evoked. Such circumstances are not currently or adequately covered by existing bibliographic record standards, which focus on qualities inherent in the music itself. The author suggests that user context should play a greater role in the testing and development of music information retrieval systems, although the instability and variability of this type of information is acknowledged. In some cases this context could apply to other works (film, television, etc.) in which a musical work is featured. Another potential implication for music information retrieval system development is a need to re-evaluate the terminology employed in testing to ensure that it is the language most often employed by users. For example, the 128 different terms used in this study to describe how a musical item made the user feel did not significantly overlap with terms employed in a previous music information retrieval task involving mood classification conducted through MIREX, the Music Information Retrieval Evaluation Exchange, in 2007. The author also argues that while most current music information retrieval testing is task-specific – e.g., how can a user search for a particular work by humming a few bars or searching for a work based on its genre, in real life, users come to their search with information that is not neatly parsed into separate tasks. The study affirms a need for systems that can combine tasks and/or consolidate the results of separate tasks for users.


This paper presents evidence of a new propagation mechanism for wealth inequality, based on differential responses, by education, to greater inequality at the start of economic life. It is motivated by a novel positive cross-country relationship between wealth inequality and perceptions of opportunity and fairness, which holds only for the more educated. Using unique administrative micro data and a quasi-field experiment of exogenous allocation of households, the paper finds that exposure to a greater top 10\% wealth share at the start of economic life in the country leads only the more educated placed in locations with above-median wealth mobility to attain higher wealth levels and position in the cohort-specific wealth distribution later on. Underlying this effect is greater participation in risky financial and real assets and in self-employment, with no evidence for a labor income, unemployment risk, or human capital investment channel. This differential response is robust to controlling for initial exposure to fixed or other time-varying local features, including income inequality, and consistent with self-fulfilling responses of the more educated to perceived opportunities, without evidence of imitation or learning from those at the top.


In this paper the social hierarchy of several ancient Mongolian polities from the 3 rd – 2 nd centuries BC to the 3 rd century AD is described in terms of heterarchy, hierarchy, and chiefdom. These polities are characterized by the similar ecological environment, common cultural space, and common frontier with the Chinese civilization in the south and nomadic Xiongnu empire in the west. However, these ancient Mongols' polities differed in social complexity level. In this paper it is discussed how and why this happened.


Conventional sources like wind, solar and geothermal energy are available abundantly in New Zealand. These can be put to use to reduce the dependency on conventional sources. In the present, power systems engineers are trying to incorporate more renewable sources into the grid. Due to the intermittent nature of many renewable resources, some control has to be implemented to stabilize the system. This thesis report is a document describing the development of a controller for a domestic water heater, which enables the use of the water heater as a reserve to maintain grid performance. The controller modulates hot water heating element power which could help stabilize a grid and minimize transport of energy. The controller takes into account the voltage and frequency as grid parameters and determines how much power has to be given to the heating element so that it doesn't load the grid at the peak time, but also provides hot water to the user all the time. The details of controller specification, design of electrical circuit, PCB design and mechanical design are discussed in this thesis. The testing of the developed controller and modifications required are also presented.


Abstract This paper presents fully automated hp-mesh refinement strategies applied to diffusion equations. In hp strategies, both the mesh size and the polynomial order can vary locally. Numerical results show that exponential convergence rates are achieved for a fraction of the number of unknowns needed with uniform refinement and h-adaptive strategies. The treatment of adaptivity in the multigroup case and the derivation of goal-oriented estimators for neutronics calculations are described. The smoothness of the multigroup components can vary greatly as a function of the energy group; this fact called for the development of group-dependent adapted spatial meshes. The goal-oriented process combines the standard hp adaptation technique with a goal-oriented adaptivity based on the simultaneous solution of an adjoint problem in order to compute quantities of interest, such as reaction rates in subdomains and pointwise fluxes or currents. These algorithms are tested for various multigroup one-dimensional and two-dimensional diffusion problems, and the numerical results confirm the exponential convergence rates predicted theoretically.


Results on the optimization of analytical methods for the determination of phosphorus in phosphino-polycarboxylate (PPCA), used frequently as scale inhibitor during oil production, by ICP-AES and ICP-MS are presented. Due to the complex matrix of production waters (brines) and their high concentration in inorganic phosphorus, the separation of organic phosphorus prior to its determination is necessary. In this work, minicolumns of silica immobilized C18 were used. Optimization of the separation step resulted in the following working conditions: (1) prewashing of the column with methanol (80% v/v); (2) use of a flow rate of 5 mL/min and 10 mL/min, respectively, for the preconditioning step and for percolation of the water sample; (3) final elution of organic phosphorus with 7 mL of buffer of H3BO3/NaOH (0.05 M, pH 9) with a flow rate of 1 mL/min. Sample detection limits (3s) for different combinations of nebulizers and spectrometric methods, based on 10 mL water aliquots, are: ICP-AES -Cross flow (47 mg/L) and Ultrasonic (18 mg/L); ICP-MS -Cross flow (1.2 mg/L), Cyclonic (0.7 mg/L) and Ultrasonic (0.5 mg/L). Typical recoveries of organic phosphorus are between 90 and 95% and the repeatability of the whole procedure is better than 10%. The developed methodology was applied successfully to samples from the oil-well NA 46, platform PNA 2, Campos basin, Brazil. Assessment of the PPCA inhibitor was possible at lower concentrations than achieved by current analytical methods, resulting in benefits such as reduced cost of chemicals, postponed oil production and lower environmental impacts.


In recent years, there has been an increasing demand to study the information needs and information-seeking behaviour of doctors as an essential element in developing successful clinical information systems and improving the quality of healthcare services. This doctoral thesis focuses on exploring the information needs and information seeking behaviour of doctors in Kuwait government hospitals (KGH). The aims are to investigate the internal and external information sources used by doctors in Kuwait government hospitals and to analyse whether the existing clinical information sources meet their needs. A strategy of sequential, mixed-method procedures was followed to gather the research data using focus groups, a paper-based questionnaire and semi-structured telephone interviews. The participants of the research included all categories of doctors (consultants, senior specialists, specialists, senior registrar, registrar, assistant registrar and trainees), working in four government hospitals: Mubarak AI Kabeer, AI Sabaha, AI Farwania and AI Amiri in Kuwait. The findings of the study show that the most frequently mentioned need for information was to keep up-to-date to maintain good practice. It was found that interpersonal communication and a doctor's personal collection, consisting primarily of electronic resources, were the sources most frequently reported as used by the doctors. However, the degree of use of clinical information sources showed that doctors' information seeking varied depending on the clinical scenario. Doctors' knowledge and patient data were the doctors' most frequently used sources of information in the three clinical scenarios: outpatients, wards and the emergency department. There was a low use of knowledge-support resources such as the Internet and library resources in the outpatient and emergency rooms. However, use of the knowledge-support resources was highest in the wards. The results showed some contextual factors either supported or hindered doctors in seeking the information they need. The factors were categorised in the following contexts: a) Organisation context, b) Socio-cultural context; c) Information sources context and d) Scenarios context. Doctors made a number of suggestions for effective information communication and improving the information provision system in KGH. Two conceptual models result from the study findings: a clinical decision-making model scenario· and the overall conceptual model of information seeking by doctors in Kuwait government hospitals. The thesis concludes with recommendations and practical implications to enhance the information provision in KGH. Suggestions for further research are also given.


The chief principle and properties of a novel noncascaded type optical bandpass filter with three unique general characteristics are presented. This device is based on a combination of a Michelson interferometer and a Gires-Tournois resonator (GTR). First, the filter has square-like frequency response with zero ripple, wide flat-top (0.74/spl times/bandwidth), unity contrast, sharp steepness, and infinite rejection ratio when GTR front surface mirror reflectance /spl rho/ is equal to one-third. Second, this filter possesses variable bandwidth and center wavelength tunability features with simple control mechanism and nanosecond temporal response potential. Third, the desired features of the filter can be synthesized easily by mere inspection since only three parameters are required, and their expressions are given in simple analytic forms. Numerical results showing these features are presented and other characteristics are briefly discussed.


The metabolic syndrome is a highly prevalent clinical entity, which is often overlooked and may have far-reaching health implications for the patient. Up to 80% of patients with the metabolic syndrome die as a result of cardiovascular complications. Insulin resistance is the central component of this complex syndrome and should be appropriately addressed to ensure the best possible outcome for our patients. Recent advances in the pathogenesis and management of this syndrome is discussed in this article.


Cross-sectional studies of the relationship between helminth infection and cognitive function can be informative in ways that treatment studies cannot. However, interpretation of results of many previous studies has been complicated by the failure to control for many potentially confounding variables.We gave Tanzanian schoolchildren aged 9±14 a battery of 11 cognitive and three educational tests and
assessed their level of helminth infection. We also took measurements of an extensive range of potentially confounding or mediating factors such as socioeconomic and educational factors, anthropometric and other biomedical measures. A total of 272 children were moderately or heavily
infected with Schistosoma haematobium, hookworm or both helminth species and 117 were uninfected with either species. Multiple regression analyses, controlling for all confounding and mediating variables, revealed that children with a heavy S. haematobium infection had signi®cantly lower scores than uninfected children on two tests of verbal short-term memory and two reaction time tasks. In one of
these tests the effect was greatest for children with poor nutritional status. There was no association between infection and educational achievement, nor between moderate infection with either species of helminth and performance on the cognitive tests. We conclude that children with heavy worm burdens and poor nutritional status are most likely to suffer cognitive impairment, and the domains of verbal
short-term memory and speed of information processing are those most likely to be affected.


One-page letter from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights from Elizabeth Abi-Mershed to Ariel Dulitzky and others of the Human Rights Clinic. In the letter Ms. Abi-Mershed says that she is responding to a request for information and sending the information provided by Argentina (presumably provided to the IACHR). This letter was adjacent to (and immediately before) the letter dated February 9, 2010 and may have originally been attached to it.


Authority is not of one kind, and authoritative directives may have different effects on the practical reasoning of their addressees. In this regard, we can distinguish between two types of authority — epistemic and decisionist. Although both are used to influence people's actions, they diverge in the way in which they are respected and treated by those who follow them. This plurality of forms of authority is closely related to some of the questions that have been bothering legal philosophers for centuries, and particularly to questions concerning the relation between reason and fiat in law. Based on the distinction between epistemic and decisionist modes of reasoning with authoritative directives, we can distinguish two discrete logics governing the dynamics of positive law: an epistemic logic which makes law aspire to correctness and reasonableness, and a decisionist logic which leads to the identification of law with its positive particularity. In the final part of this article, I consider the practical and conceptual implications of this duality.


ABSTRACT Addressing food security with local and sustainable food production is a key requirement for supporting a globally sustainable agricultural system. Food insecurity is prevalent in Indigenous communities in Canada, especially in rural and remote regions of northern (subarctic and arctic) Canada. Further, climate change has disproportionately impacted subarctic and arctic regions worldwide − surface air temperatures are now more favourable for agricultural activities − offering the potential for local food production under ambient conditions. The objectives of the present study were to evaluate bush bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) intercrops grown over a two-year period in two sites (treed, windbreak-lined with native willow, Salix. spp.; and non-treed, or open) in the subarctic Indigenous community of Fort Albany First Nation, Ontario, Canada. Intercrops grown in the windbreak-lined site produced significantly greater (p < 0.05) yields and biomass than the open site. An analysis of soil chemistry (pH, P, K, Mg, NO3, NH4 and total N) showed that with some local amendments such as offal and bone meal, both the windbreak-lined and open sites can support continued agricultural use. This study informs Indigenous communities across subarctic regions of the world that climate change not only brings challenges, but also opportunities, such as potentially sustainable local food production.


This paper presents a novel method for fusing two or more differently exposed Low Dynamic Range LDR images of a High Dynamic Range HDR scene. Illumination estimation is applied to coarse and fine scales leading to the contrast decomposition process at both scales and assessing to the definition of the "well-exposed" pixels in the original exposure sequence. Membership functions are then employed to ensure that well-exposed pixels from each contrast decomposed image will be selected, in order to maximize the visual information of the HDR scene. Finally, blending functions are used to create two fused images for each scale. These images contain visual information in different scales. Then, they are blended together to form the final fused image. Comparative results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm, successfully preserves the visual information of the HDR scene.


BACKGROUND
Studies on the health benefits of breastfeeding in developed countries have shown conflicting results. These studies often fail to account for confounding, reverse causality, and dose-response effects. We addressed these issues in analyzing longitudinal data to determine if breastfeeding protects US infants from developing diarrhea and ear infections.

METHODS
Mothers participating in a mail panel provided information on their infants at ages 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 months. Infants were classified as exclusively breastfed; high, middle, or low mixed breast- and formula-fed; or exclusively formula-fed. Diarrhea and ear infection diagnoses were based on mothers' reports. Infant age and gender; other liquid and solid intake; maternal education, occupation, and smoking; household size; family income; and day care use were adjusted for in the full models.

RESULTS
The risk of developing either diarrhea or ear infection increased as the amount of breast milk an infant received decreased. In the full models, the risk for diarrhea remained significant only in infants who received no breast milk compared with those who received only breast milk (odds ratio = 1.8); the risk for ear infection remained significant in the low mixed feeding group (odds ratio = 1.6) and among infants receiving no breast milk compared with those who received only breast milk (odds ratio = 1.7).

CONCLUSIONS
Breastfeeding protects US infants against the development of diarrhea and ear infection. Breastfeeding does not have to be exclusive to confer this benefit. In fact, protection is afforded in a dose-response manner. The more breast milk an infant receives in the first 6 months of life, the less likely that he or she


Over the last 15 years there has been increasing attention to adolescent girls' and women's menstrual hygiene management (MHM) needs in humanitarian response contexts. A growing number of donors, non-governmental organizations, and governments are calling attention to the importance of addressing girls' and women's MHM-related needs in post-disaster and post-conflict settings. However consensus on the most effective and culturally appropriate responses to provide for girls and women remains insufficiently documented for widespread sharing of lessons learned. This article is an effort to begin to document the recommendation of key multi-disciplinary experts working in humanitarian response on effective approaches to MHM in emergency contexts, along with a summarizing of the existing literature, and the identification of remaining gaps in MHM practice, research and policy in humanitarian contexts.


The main focus of this thesis is rare event simulation for non-Markovian tandem queues with i.i.d. arrival process and light-tailed service processes that are independent of each other. We are interested in developing simulation schemes in order to estimate the probability that the total number of customers reaches some high number during a busy cycle of the system. As ordinary simulation does not give the desired estimate in reasonable time, we consider two methods in order to decrease the simulation time: importance sampling and splitting. In order to use either of these methods, we first determine the large deviations behavior of the probability of interest. In addition, we show that the large deviations behavior of the probability of having a high number of customers in the system in stationarity, as well as upon arrival of a customer, are the same. Secondly, we consider importance sampling. With importance sampling, we change the underlying probability distributions of the arrival process and service processes to speed up the simulation. The change of probability distributions is also called a change of measure. First, we discuss how to find a state-independent change of measure and we show that this change of measure is the only exponential state-independent change of measure that may give an asymptotically efficient estimator. Moreover, we provide necessary conditions for this change of measure to give an asymptotically efficient estimator. In order to find a change of measure that always gives an asymptotically efficient estimator, we consider state-dependent importance sampling. Based on the subsolution approach, we present a state-dependent change of measure and we prove that our proposed change of measure indeed gives an asymptotically efficient estimator. Thirdly, we consider splitting. With splitting, we keep the underlying probability distributions the same, but we `encourage' the process when it tends into the right direction, that is, when the process crosses some predetermined thresholds, the process splits into several independent processes that all continue according to the same dynamics as the original process. We develop splitting thresholds using the same underlying methods as for designing the importance sampling schemes and we prove that the proposed splitting thresholds result in an asymptotically efficient estimator. In the course of the analysis, we also consider three different, but related topics. The first is to study the large deviations behavior of the probability of interest when customer sizes differ in each of the queues. Secondly, we study state-dependent importance sampling for Markovian tandem queues and we explore the possibilities for a state-dependent change of measure using subsolutions. Lastly, we determine for a rather general class of stochastic processes the large deviations behavior of the probability that the process leaves a neighborhood of a metastable point during some long time interval [0, T] when the time interval depends on the rarity parameter.


It is shown that a necessary and sufficient condition for an Archimedean copula generator to generate a $d$-dimensional copula is that the generator is a $d$-monotone function. The class of $d$-dimensional Archimedean copulas is shown to coincide with the class of survival copulas of $d$-dimensional $\ell_1$-norm symmetric distributions that place no point mass at the origin. The $d$-monotone Archimedean copula generators may be characterized using a little-known integral transform of Williamson [Duke Math. J. 23 (1956) 189--207] in an analogous manner to the well-known Bernstein--Widder characterization of completely monotone generators in terms of the Laplace transform. These insights allow the construction of new Archimedean copula families and provide a general solution to the problem of sampling multivariate Archimedean copulas. They also yield useful expressions for the $d$-dimensional Kendall function and Kendall's rank correlation coefficients and facilitate the derivation of results on the existence of densities and the description of singular components for Archimedean copulas. The existence of a sharp lower bound for Archimedean copulas with respect to the positive lower orthant dependence ordering is shown.


B. Ruby Rich designated a brand new genre, the New Queer Cinema (NQC), in her ground-breaking article in the Village Voice in 1992. This movement in film and video was intensely political and aesthetically innovative, made possible by the debut of the camcorder, and driven initially by outrage over the unchecked spread of AIDS. The genre has grown to include an entire genera--tion of queer artists, filmmakers, and activists. As a critic, curator, journalist, and scholar, Rich has been inextricably linked to the New Queer Cinema from its inception. This volume presents her new thoughts on the topic, as well as bringing together the best of her writing on the NQC. She follows this cinematic movement from its origins in the mid-1980s all the way to the present in essays and articles directed at a range of audiences, from readers of academic journals to popular glossies and weekly newspapers. She presents her insights into such NQC pioneers as Derek Jarman and Isaac Julien and investigates such celebrated films as Go Fish, Brokeback Mountain, Itty Bitty Titty Committee, and Milk. In addi-tion to exploring less-known films and international cinemas (including Latin American and French films and videos), she documents the more recent incar--nations of the NQC on screen, on the web, and in art galleries.


Abstract Background/Objective: India is the world's most biodiverse region and is undergoing a period of dramatic social and economic change. Due to population's explosion, climate change and lax implementation of environmental policies, the incidence of breast cancer is increasing. From population-based cancer registry data, breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in urban registries where it constitutes more than 30% of all cancers in females. We conducted a meta-analysis of all breast cancer case–control studies conducted in India during 1991–2018 to find pooled estimates of odds ratio (OR). Materials and Methods: Eligible studies were identified through a comprehensive literature search of PubMed, EMBASE, and HINARI databases from 1991 to January 2018. This analysis included 24 observational studies out of 34 that reported the case–control distribution of reproductive factors, body mass index (BMI) and type of residence. The analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3 (Review Manager, 2017) applying the random-effects model. Results: A total of 21,511 patients (9889 cases and 11,622 controls) were analyzed, resulting in statistically significant association between breast cancer and the following reproductive factors: never breastfeed (OR: 3.69; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.70, 8.01), menopausal age >50 years (OR: 2.88; 95% CI: 1.85, 3.85), menarche age <13 years (OR: 1.83; 95% CI: 1.34, 2.51), null parity (OR: 1.58; 95% CI: 1.21, 2.06), postmenopause (OR: 1.35; 95% CI: 1.13, 1.62), and age at the 1st pregnancy >25 years (OR: 1.57; 95% CI: 1.37, 1.80). Family history (FH) of breast cancer (OR: 5.33; 95% CI: 2.89, 9.82), obesity (OR: 1.19; 95% CI: 1.00, 1.42), and urban residence (OR: 1.22; 95% CI: 1.03, 1.44) were also found to be significant risk factors. Conclusion: The results of this meta-analysis are indicative of significant associations between reproductive factors and breast cancer risk, profoundly so among women experiencing menopause after the age of 50, women who never breastfeed and FH of breast cancer.


Abstract This paper develops a construction-based dialectometry capable of identifying previously unknown constructions and measuring the degree to which a given construction is subject to regional variation. The central idea is to learn a grammar of constructions (a CxG) using construction grammar induction and then to use these constructions as features for dialectometry. This offers a method for measuring the aggregate similarity between regional CxGs without limiting in advance the set of constructions subject to variation. The learned CxG is evaluated on how well it describes held-out test corpora while dialectometry is evaluated on how well it can model regional varieties of English. The method is tested using two distinct datasets: First, the International Corpus of English representing eight outer circle varieties; Second, a web-crawled corpus representing five inner circle varieties. Results show that the method (1) produces a grammar with stable quality across sub-sets of a single corpus that is (2) capable of distinguishing between regional varieties of English with a high degree of accuracy, thus (3) supporting dialectometric methods for measuring the similarity between varieties of English and (4) measuring the degree to which each construction is subject to regional variation. This is important for cognitive sociolinguistics because it operationalizes the idea that competition between constructions is organized at the functional level so that dialectometry needs to represent as much of the available functional space as possible.


The radio spectra of main-sequence stars remain largely unconstrained due to the lack of observational data to inform stellar atmosphere models. As such, the dominant emission mechanisms at long wavelengths, how they vary with spectral type, and how much they contribute to the expected brightness at a given radio wavelength are still relatively unknown for most spectral types. We present radio continuum observations of Altair, a rapidly rotating A-type star. We observed Altair with NOEMA in 2018 and 2019 at 1.34, 2.09, and 3.22 mm and with the Very Large Array in 2019 at 6.7 and 9.1 mm. In the radio spectra, we see a brightness temperature minimum at millimeter wavelengths followed by a steep rise to temperatures larger than the optical photosphere, behavior that is unexpected for A-type stars. We use these data to produce the first submillimeter to centimeter spectrum of a rapidly rotating A-type star informed by observations. We generated both PHOENIX and KINICH-PAKAL model atmospheres and determine the KINICH-PAKAL model better reproduces Altair's radio spectrum. The synthetic spectrum shows a millimeter brightness temperature minimum followed by significant emission over that of the photosphere at centimeter wavelengths. Together, these data and models show how the radio spectrum of an A-type star can reveal the presence of a chromosphere, likely induced by rapid rotation, and that a Rayleigh Jean's extrapolation of the stellar photosphere is not an adequate representation of a star's radio spectrum.


Abstract. This study aims to quantify how much of the observed strength and variability in the zonal-mean extratropical tropopause inversion layer (TIL) comes from the modulation of the temperature field and its gradients around the tropopause by planetary- and synoptic-scale waves. By analyzing high-resolution observations, it also puts other TIL enhancing mechanisms into context. Using gridded Global Positioning System radio occultation (GPS-RO) temperature profiles from the COSMIC mission (2007–2013), we are able to extract the extratropical wave signal by a simplified wavenumber–frequency domain filtering method and quantify the resulting TIL enhancement. By subtracting the extratropical wave signal, we show how much of the TIL is associated with other processes, at mid- and high latitudes, for both hemispheres and all seasons. The transient and reversible modulation by planetary- and synoptic-scale waves is almost entirely responsible for the TIL in midlatitudes. This means that wave-mean flow interactions, inertia–gravity waves and the residual circulation are of minor importance for the strength and variability in the midlatitude TIL. At polar regions, the extratropical wave modulation is dominant for the TIL strength as well, but there is also a clear fingerprint from sudden stratospheric warmings (SSWs) and final warmings in both hemispheres. Therefore, polar vortex breakups are partially responsible for the observed polar TIL strength in winter (if SSWs occur) and spring. Also, part of the polar summer TIL strength cannot be explained by extratropical wave modulation. We suggest that our wave modulation mechanism integrates several TIL enhancing mechanisms proposed in previous literature while robustly disclosing the overall outcome of the different processes involved. By analyzing observations only, our study identifies which mechanisms dominate the extratropical TIL strength and their relative contribution. It remains to be determined, however, which roles the different planetary- and synoptic-scale wave types play within the total extratropical wave modulation of the TIL, as well as what causes the observed amplification of extratropical waves near the tropopause.


Initial experiments on separated shock/boundary-layer interactions were carried out within the Boeing/AFOSR Mach-6 Quiet Tunnel. Measurements were made of hypersonic laminar-turbulent transition within the separation above a compression corner. This wind tunnel features freestream fluctuations that are similar to those inflight. The present work focuses on the role of traveling instabilities within the shear layer above the separation bubble.A 7 degree half-angle cone with a slice and a finite-span compression ramp was designed and tested. Due to a lack of space for post-reattachment sensors, early designs of thisgeneric geometry did not allow for measurement of a post-reattachment boundary layer. Oil flow and heat transfer measurements showed that by lengthening the ramp, the post-reattachment boundary layer could be measured. A parametric study was completed to determine that a 20 degree ramp angle caused reattachment at 45% of thetotal ramp length and provided the best flow field for boundary-layer transition measurements.Surface pressure fluctuation measurements showed post-reattachment wave packets and turbulent spots. The presence of wave packets suggests that a shear-layerinstability might be present. Pressure fluctuation magnitudes showed a consistent transition Reynolds numbers of 900000, based on freestream conditions and distancefrom the nosetip. Pressure fluctuations grew exponentially from less than 1% to roughly 10% of tangent-wedge surface pressure during transition.A high-voltage pulsed plasma perturber was used to introduce controlled disturbances into the boundary layer. The concept was demonstrated on a straight 7 degree half-angle circular cone. The perturbations successfully excited the second-mode instability at naturally unstable frequencies. The maximum second-mode amplitudes prior to transition were measured to be about 10% of the mean surface static pressure. The plasma perturber was then used to disturb the boundary layer just upstream of the separation bubble on the cone with the slice and ramp. A traveling instability was measured post-reattachment but the transition location did not change for any tested condition. It appears that the excited shear-layer instability was not the dominant mechanism of transition.


For the last few years, many commodity computers have come equipped with a Trusted Platform Module (TPM). Existing research shows that the TPM can be used to establish trust in the software executing on a computer. However, at present, there is no standard mechanism for establishing trust in the TPM on a particular machine. Indeed, any straightforward approach falls victim to a cuckoo attack. In this work, we propose a formal model for establishing trust in a platform. The model reveals the cuckoo attack problem and suggests potential solutions. Unfortunately, no instantiation of these solutions is fully satisfying, and hence, we pose the development of a fully satisfactory solution as an open question to the community.


Much of everyday mental life involves information that we cannot currently perceive directly, from contemplating the strengths of friendships to reasoning about the contents of other minds. Despite their primacy to everyday human functioning, and in particular, to human sociality, the mechanisms that support abstract thought are poorly understood. An explanatory framework that has gained traction recently in cognitive neuroscience is exaptation, or the re-purposing of evolutionarily old circuitry to carry out new functions. We argue for the utility of applying this concept to social cognition. Convergent behavioral and neuroscientific evidence suggests that humans co-opt mechanisms originally devoted to spatial perception for more abstract domains of cognition (e.g., temporal reasoning). Preliminary evidence suggests that some aspects of social cognition also involve the exaptation of substrates originally evolved for processing physical space. We discuss the potential for future work to test more directly if cortical substrates for spatial processing were exapted for social cognition, and in so doing, to improve our understanding of how humans evolved mechanisms for navigating an exceptionally complex social world.


Tests of aggression , prejudice and a measure of how much uniqueness or similarity we perceive in others were administered to participants the day before the terrorist attacks of 9/ 11, the day of the attacks, six and seven days later, one month later, one year later, and two years later . Results show that aggression scores went up on 911 I, abated somewhat, then wen t back up a year later, but were not as high two years later. The prejudice scores showed no consistent change, but scores on the perception of similarity in other people by participants decreased over the two year time span . These measured dimensions are compared to "clinical" responses to trauma, such as stress and anxiety. The authors also discuss anniversary reactions to trauma, and the role of the media in spreading the effects of trauma to those not in close proximity to the event.


We present model studies with the one-dimensional model MISTRA to investigate the potential role of frost flowers, recycling on snow, and open leads in the depletion of tropospheric ozone in the Arctic spring. In our model, we assumed frost flower aerosols to be the major source of bromine. We show that a major ozone depletion event can be satisfactorily reproduced only if the recycling on snow of deposited bromine into gas phase bromine is assumed. In the model, this cycling is more efficient than the bromine explosion process and maintains sufficiently high levels of bromine to deplete ozone down to few nmol mol −1 within four days. We assessed the influence of different surface combinations (open lead/frost flowers) on the chemistry in the model. Results showed noticeable modifications affecting the composition of aerosols and the deposition velocities. A model run with a series of coupled frost flower fields and open leads, separated by large areas of snow, showed results comparable with field observations. In addition, we studied the effects of modified temperature of either the frost flower field or the ambient airmass. A warmer frost flower field increases the relative humidity and the aerosol deposition rate. The deposition/re-emission process gains in importance, inducing more reactive bromine in the gas phase, and a stronger ozone depletion. A decrease of 1K in airmass temperature shows in our model that the aerosol uptake capacities of all gas phase species substantially increases, leading to enhanced uptake of acids from the gas phase. Consequently, the so-called bromine explosion accelerated and O 3 mixing ratios decreased. In our model representation, variations in wind speed affected the aerosol source function and influenced the amount of bromine in the atmosphere and thus the ozone depletion strength. Recent studies have suggested the important role of the precipitation of calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ) out of the brine layer for the possible acidification of the liquid phase by acid uptake. Our investigation showed that this precipitation is a crucial process for the timing of the bromine explosion in aerosols. Nevertheless, model runs with either 50% precipitation or complete precipitation displayed a relatively weak difference in ozone mixing ratios after four simulated days. By considering conditions typical for "Arctic Haze" pollution events at the start of the run we obtained a low pH in frost flower aerosols due to a greater mixing ratio of SO 2 , and a strong recycling efficiency via large aerosol number concentration. The aerosol acidification during a haze event most likely intensifies the ozone depletion strength and occurrence. The comparison between our modeled deposition on snow and sampled snow at Barrow (Alaska) shows that approximately 75% of deposited bromine may be re-emitted into the gas phase as Br 2 /BrCl. Among several non-halogen fluxes from the snow, model simulations showed that only HONO affects the chemistry. Finally, we investigated the release of Br 2 potentially produced by heterogeneous reactions directly on frost flowers. In this case, we obtained unrealistic results of aerosol compositions and deposition rates on snow compared to observations in the Arctic.


Global Navigation Satellite Systems can provide position, velocity and time information to users using receiver hardware. The United States developed Global Positioning System (GPS) is the only current fully operational system; however further systems are in development. The GPS has shown considerable success for navigation, but it still has a number of problems that limit its accuracy. The two main problems are the ionosphere and local environment of the receiver. The ionosphere causes a delay and random rapid shifts in phase and amplitude (scintillation) to the signal. The local environment can provide the signal with multiple routes (multi-path) to the receiver. In this project a GPS signal simulator is developed, which models the effects of the ionosphere and multi-path on the modulated signals. The focus is made on the GPS system as the simulator measurements can be compared to the real measurements; however other systems will be considered in the future. A number of experiments investigating multi-path and ionospheric effects on a receiver's ability to track the signals have been completed. The simulator has been used to replicate a real local multi-path environment and the results have been compared. Further investigations of the multi-path have shown a unique multi-path signature in the receiver power output. The later part of the thesis describes a case study investigating a short but rapid period of scintillation observed on three receivers based in Norway. An analysis of the multi-path environment was completed, but was found not to be the cause. The ionosphere was investigated using equipment based across Scandinavia. The equipment showed that geomagnetic conditions were disturbed at the time of the event. The GPS measurements were compared with all-sky camera data to show that the scintillation can be attributed to the GPS signal path crossing electron density structures associated with the aurora.


The growth defect associated with the loss of yeast A kinase activity can be alleviated by the overexpression or deletion of two other kinases, Sch9 and Yak1, respectively. Using tests of epistasis, we have shown that Sch9 and Yak1 define separate signaling pathways and must, therefore, suppress the A kinase defect by different mechanisms. Nevertheless, the Yak1 kinase appears to regulate cellular processes that are under A kinase control. For example, acquisition of heat resistance is correlated with Yak1 kinase activity, such that YAK1-overexpressing cells are over 200-fold more resistant than isogenic yak1 strains. These results, for the first time, associate a phenotype, other than suppression of the A kinase growth defect, with the loss of Yak1 activity and argue a broader role for the Yak1 kinase in cell growth.


Laboratory efficacy of the entomopathogenic fungi, Paecilomyces carneus and P. farinosus, was assessed against the first larval instars of Pteroma pendula, using conidia generated on solid fermentation media. Three isolates of P. carneus and three isolates of P. farinosus were infective on the first larval instars of P. pendula. Most of the Paecilomyces spp. caused a significant increase in mortality between seven days after treatment (DAT) and 11 DAT. However, a dramatic increase in mortality was recorded with isolate PC2 of P. carneus whose effectiveness increased nearly three-fold over this period. The highest corrected mortality after 11 DAT varied from 75% for P. farinosus to 93.8% for P. carneus. Among the tested isolates, P. carneus caused the highest corrected mortality of 93.8% at 11 DAT, while a corrected mortality of only 75% was induced by P. carneus isolated from the soil. The most successful isolate was of P. carneus which controlled over 80% of the first larval instars of the P. pendula population at 11 DAT. This indicates that the efficacy of P. carneus is superior to that of P. farinosus against the first larval instars of P. pendula, and can be exploited as biological control agents of the oil palm pest bagworm.


We applied a user interface (UI) design approach based on a constructivist perspective for web-based learning that conceptualizes interactions between learners and websites as conversations. Hyperlinks on the UI of a distributed interactive learning environment were treated as invitations for interaction to encourage learners' active exploration. An experiment for examining the effects of two UI features, namely, additional cues attached to hyperlinks and indication of the website owner, was conducted on the basis of the literature on invitation designs for web surveys. Results reveal that, on a website owned by someone with a high-power status, learners explore further when additional cues are present on the UI. Such effects indirectly enhance learning outcomes.


Many studies show that industrial clusters have been successfully promoting the progress of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Therefore, many governments around the world, including Indonesia, enthusiastically perform comparative studies of cluster policy. Thus, it is important to understand the characteristics of the business of small and medium industries as input in formulating the policy of industrial clusters. Research objectives are focused on the early stages of analysis as to whether the cluster of wood and rattan furniture industry which has existed long enough in Jepara, Central Java, Indonesia, has formed a pattern of awareness among employers in considering the benefits proportionally between cooperation and competition. In various scientific literature reviews, this issue was named by the term coopetition. Thus, the benefits of this research are useful in formulating policy toward strengthening the industrial cluster furniture and rattan towards a more integrative of industrial clusters, and supporting industries involve complex, well integrated backward (backward linkage) and integrated into the front (forward linkage). In the end, it is expected that increasingly mature industrial clusters of wooden furniture and rattan will be transformed into a form of industrial agglomeration and positively impact on strengthening the competitiveness of the furniture industry widely influential in regional and national economy. The test results show that nearly all of the dimensions of a differentiator (discriminant factor) are significant by influence on differentiating into three patterns of interaction between companies in the cluster of wooden furniture and rattan, while there is only one dimension that is not significant, i.e., the horizontal dimension of cooperation. These results indicate that the industrial cluster of wooden furniture and rattan in Jepara have long formed, where the cycles and patterns of cooperation are factors that could indicate variations in differences concerning perceptions of entrepreneurs in the wood and rattan furniture cluster. Results of the analysis with the approach of the discriminant also show the forming awareness of employers about balancing the important role of competition. It is, as well as cooperation in the industrial cluster wood and rattan furniture from Jepara being already cycle of clusters, characterized by maturity. The cooperation is characterized by bilateral, multilateral, and vertical indicating that the cluster is ready to metamorphose into a form more complicated than an agglomeration. This condition needs to be examined further to see the impact of the maturity cycle of an industrial cluster and more complex patterns of cooperation towards the formation prerequisite agglomeration, and its impact on industrial performance and competitiveness clusters in the aggregate, as well as the economic development of the region.


This paper introduces a general Bayesian non- parametric latent feature model suitable to per- form automatic exploratory analysis of heterogeneous datasets, where the attributes describing each object can be either discrete, continuous or mixed variables. The proposed model presents several important properties. First, it accounts for heterogeneous data while can be inferred in linear time with respect to the number of objects and attributes. Second, its Bayesian nonparametric nature allows us to automatically infer the model complexity from the data, i.e., the number of features necessary to capture the latent structure in the data. Third, the latent features in the model are binary-valued variables, easing the interpretability of the obtained latent features in data exploration tasks.


This thesis describes the design of a tipping trailer, from a company's demands andrequests to complete manufacturing documentation. The design is developed for thecompany Abexor AB in Ostersund that produces tipping trailers. The product issupposed to be used by Abexors customer to transport cargos of different kinds,such as gravel, stone, dirt, etc.The work commenced with a meeting at the company where demands were set.After that a pre-study was conducted to find out what traffic rules were required forthe trailer to be allowed to be driven on roads. Similar products were examined tosee how the trailer could be designed. The pre-study was followed by an idea andconcept generation. Nine different concepts were generated and the best werechosen for continued work.The concepts that were chosen resulted in a design in CAD were considerationswere taken for dimensions, traffic rules and function. Manufacturing documentationand a list of components to be bought were generated.In the section discussion and conclusions you can see what the thesis has resulted in.It's also described what could have been done different and guidelines for futuredevelopment have been made.


This study compares CEO employment contracts across two common law countries: the United States and Australia. Although the regulatory regimes of these jurisdictions enjoy many comparable features, there are also some important institutional differences in terms of capital market, tax, and regulatory structures, which are discussed here. Debate has raged in the United States on the issue of whether executive compensation is efficient and determined at arm's length, or skewed due to a power imbalance between managers and shareholders. A comparative analysis of the kind undertaken in our study provides an additional perspective on the optimal contracting and managerial power models of executive pay in U.S. academic literature. Even if one model has greater explanatory power in the U.S. context, this will not necessarily be the case in other jurisdictions, such as Australia. In order to do our comparison, we create pairs of U.S. and Australian firms that are matched on a number of dimensions including firm size and industry. We find that Australian CEOs have significantly greater base salaries than their U.S. counterparts, while U.S. CEOs are more likely to be compensated with restricted stock and stock options than the Australians. More striking is the fact that U.S. CEO employment contracts tend to last longer than Australian contracts, and are more likely to have arbitration provisions, change-in-control provisions, tax gross ups, do not compete clauses, and SERPs. We also find that Australian contracts are much more apt to include performance hurdle requirements before CEOs can receive restricted stock and options, and restrictions on CEO hedging of restricted stock and options. A number of the contractual differences we document appear to be consistent with key institutional differences between the two countries.


Foreword by David Gordon WilsonPublished in 1896, "Bicycles and Tricycles" was the first serious, scientifically based study of the bicycle. It begins with a general exposition of mechanical principles: dynamic, static, and straining forces. It then covers successive experiments at bicycle and tricycle design, including several "mechanical monstrosities."With the aid of elegant, sometimes humorous drawings, the book examines various designs for their relative stability, steering advantages, gearing and resistance properties. The final selection discusses the design of individual components in detail, including the frame (from the point of view of stress analysis); wheels; bearings; chains and chain gearing; toothed-wheel gearing; the lever-and-crank gear; tires; pedals, cranks and bottom brackets; springs and saddles; and brakes.A definitive work in its own time, "Bicycles and Tricycles" is a collector's item for history-lovers as well as bicycle-enthusiasts--a treat for tinkerers and all those interested in the history of invention.


IL-10 and IL-4 have been shown to exert an inhibitory effect on cell-mediated immune responses. Our previous studies of leprosy demonstrated that IL-10 and IL-4 mRNA were preferentially expressed in lesions from lepromatous patients, those immunologically unresponsive individuals that manifest widespread infection. To define more precisely the regulatory roles of these two cytokines in the immune response to infection, we studied in vitro responses to Mycobacterium leprae. M. leprae triggered IL-10 release from PBMC of patients and healthy donors; the predominant source of the IL-10 was found to be monocytes/macrophages. Stimulation of PBMC in the presence of neutralizing anti-IL-10 mAb indicated that endogenous IL-10 production inhibits PBMC proliferation and release of TNF-alpha, GM-CSF, and IFN-gamma. Paradoxically, studies using neutralizing anti-IL-4 mAb indicated that endogenous IL-4 production enhances PBMC proliferative responses most strikingly in lepromatous patients. We found that rIL-4 expanded CD8+ T cells from lepromatous patients in vitro. CD8+ T cells from lepromatous patients have been shown to suppress CD4+ T cell responses, in part by the release of IL-4. Our study indicated that endogenous IL-4 production inhibited IL-10 secretion and, concomitantly, increased TNF-alpha and GM-CSF release. The present data suggest that, on balance, IL-4 and IL-10 contribute to immunosuppression in human infectious disease.


The clinical manifestations of patients with group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal (GAS) bacteremia presenting to an urban children's hospital were reviewed. Group A beta-hemolytic streptococci were isolated from blood cultures from 17 children over a three-year period. Systemic illnesses that may have predisposed these children to GAS bacteremia were identified in seven patients: preceding varicella infection (four patients) or malignant neoplasm/immunosuppressive therapy (three patients). Possible sources of GAS included compromised integument (seven patients), the oropharynx (six patients), or the lower respiratory tract (two patients). The clinical manifestations of GAS sepsis included the following: fever (15 patients); arthritis or arthralgias (four patients); cellulitis (three patients); maculopapular eruption (one patient); petechial or pustular exanthems (three patients); osteomyelitis (two patients); cervical adenitis (one patient); empyema (one patient); and meningitis with multiple brain abscesses (one patient). Two patients died of apparent overwhelming GAS sepsis while at home. Group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal bacteremia can present with a wide range of clinical manifestations and cause mild to fulminant disease in children.


Peroxidases are a family of isoenzymes found in all higher plants. However, little is known concerning their role in growth, development, or response to stress. Plant peroxidases are heme-containing monomeric glycoproteins that utilize either H202 or O2 to oxidize a wide variety of molecules. To obtain more information on possible in planta functions of peroxidases, we have used a cDNA clone for the primary isoenzyme form of peroxidase to synthesize high levels of this enzyme in transgenic plants. We were able to obtain Nicotiana tabacum and N. sylvestris transformed plants with peroxidase activity that is 10-fold higher than in wild-type plants by introducing a chimeric gene composed of the cauliflower mosaic virus 35s promoter and the tobacco anionic peroxidase cDNA. The elevated peroxidase activity was a result of increased levels of two anionic peroxidases in N. tabacum, which apparently differ in post-translational modification. Transformed plants of both species have the unique phenotype of chronic severe wilting through loss of turgor in leaves, which was initiated at the time of flowering. The peroxidase-induced wilting was shown not to be an effect of diminished water uptake through the roots, decreased conductance of water through the xylem, or increased water loss through the leaf surface or stomata. Possible explanations for the loss of turgor, and the significance of these types of experiments in studying isoenzyme families, are discussed. wild-type tobacco. Peroxidase activity was found at 10-fold over wildtype in leaf tissue from the youngest seedling to maturity.