There are many applications in which it is desirable to order rather than classify instances. Here we consider the problem of learning how to order instances given feedback in the form of preference judgments, i.e., statements to the effect that one instance should be ranked ahead of another. We outline a two-stage approach in which one first learns by conventional means a binary preference function indicating whether it is advisable to rank one instance before another. Here we consider an on-line algorithm for learning preference functions that is based on Freund and Schapire's "Hedge" algorithm. In the second stage, new instances are ordered so as to maximize agreement with the learned preference function. We show that the problem of finding the ordering that agrees best with a learned preference function is NP-complete. Nevertheless, we describe simple greedy algorithms that are guaranteed to find a good approximation. Finally, we show how metasearch can be formulated as an ordering problem, and present experimental results on learning a combination of "search experts," each of which is a domain-specific query expansion strategy for a web search engine.


Before invention of the elevator, six stories was the practical limit to the height of a commercial building. Following the Chicago fire of 1871, building designers there were quick to take advantage of the new elevator technology, which was then in its early childhood. Post-fire buildings were much taller. But as buildings went higher and higher, walls got thicker and thicker, thereby placing a limit on the height of a building. In designing Home Insurance Building (Chicago, 1885), Major William L. Jenney introduced a far-reaching innovation. Instead of using thick masonry walls to carry the weight of the building, Jenney introduced an iron skeleton of columns and beams to carry floor, roof, and wall loads. The exterior masonry wall was reduced to a mere skin. The Home Insurance Building was the world's first true skyscraper. This giant leap forward in building construction opened the door for buildings of practically any desired height.


Smoke. Shadows. Moody strains of jazz. Welcome to the world of "noir musical" films, where tormented antiheroes and hard-boiled musicians battle obsession and struggle with their music and ill-fated love triangles. Sultry divas dance and sing the blues in shrouded nightclubs. Romantic intrigue clashes with backstage careers. In her pioneering study, Music in the Shadows, film noir expert Sheri Chinen Biesen explores musical films that use film noir style and bluesy strains of jazz to inhabit a disturbing underworld and reveal the dark side of fame and the American Dream. While noir musical films like A Star Is Born include musical performances, their bleak tone and expressionistic aesthetic more closely resemble the visual style of film noir. Their narratives unfold behind a stark noir lens: distorted, erratic angles and imbalanced hand-held shots allow the audience to experience a tortured, disillusioned perspective. While many musicals glamorize the quest for the spotlight in Hollywood's star factory, brooding noir musical films such as Blues in the Night, Gilda, The Red Shoes, West Side Story, and Round Midnight stretch the boundaries of film noir and the musical as film genres collide. Deep shadows, dim lighting, and visual composition evoke moodiness, cynicism, pessimism, and subjective psychological points of view. As in her earlier study of film noir, Blackout: World War II and the Origins of Film Noir, Biesen draws on extensive primary research in studio archives to situate her examination within a historical, industrial, and cultural context.


Juvenile polyposis syndrome (JPS; MIM 174900) is an autosomal dominant condition with incomplete penetrance characterized by hamartomatous polyps of the gastrointestinal tract and a risk of gastrointestinal cancer. Gastrointestinal hamartomatous polyps are also present in Cowden syndrome (CS; MIM 158350) and Bannayan-Zonana syndrome (BZS; also called Ruvalcaba-Myhre-Smith syndrome; MIM 153480). The susceptibility locus for both CS and BZS has recently been identified as the novel tumor suppressor gene PTEN, encoding a dual specificity phosphatase, located at 10q23.3. A putative JPS locus, JP1, which most likely functions as a tumor suppressor, had previously been mapped to 10q22-24 in both familial and sporadic juvenile polyps. Given the shared clinical features of gastrointestinal hamartomatous polyps among the three syndromes and the coincident mapping of JP1 to the region of PTEN, we sought to determine whether JPS was allelic to CS and BZS by mutation analysis of PTEN and linkage approaches. Microsatellite markers spanning the CS/BZS locus (D10S219, D10S551, D10S579, and D10S541) were used to compute multipoint lod scores in eight informative families with JPS. Lod scores of < -2.0 were generated for the entire region, thus excluding PTEN and any genes within the flanking 20-cM interval as candidate loci for familial JPS under our statistical models. In addition, analysis of PTEN using a combination of denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and direct sequencing was unable to identify a germline mutation in 14 families with JPS and 11 sporadic cases. Therefore, at least a proportion of JPS cases are not caused by germline PTEN alteration or by an alternative locus at 10q22-24.


Islamic finance is entering into a new pattern. It is deemed that Islamic finance should take initiative to meet the increasing needs of microfinance with aim of alleviating poverty and to help the poor people in their distress. Concept of Islamic Microfinance is being used to fulfill the demands of microfinance in the developing countries. Different models of Islamic finance are proposed to be used in microfinance activities to help the poor people for betterment of their personal life and to initiate the small business for the overall growth of the economy. But profit and loss sharing (Mudarabah) model is being criticized due to high risk involvement. Due to high risk factor, proper monitoring is deemed necessary for the smooth running of the contract. Our current research tends to investigate the underlying risk attached with Profit and Loss sharing project. As per theory of Profit and loss sharing financing all the risk is to be borne by the investor of the capital i.e. microfinance institution. But monitoring itself is not risk free and can result in expenses that would surpass the original price of the sanctioned loan. In the long run and at very end, we are hopeful that our research findings would play an important role to overcome the issue of monitoring in profit and loss sharing loans in microfinance.


Submarine gullies—small-scale, straight, shallow channels formed in relatively high seafloor-slope settings—are ubiquitous features that play an important role in the general evolution of continental margin morphology. The mechanisms associated with the origin and evolution of submarine gullies are, however, still poorly defined. In this paper, we present evidence of a topographic signature of gully erosion in the Cook Strait sector of the Hikurangi subduction margin, New Zealand. This signature indicates that submarine gully initiation is a threshold process driven by unconfined, directionally stable fluid or sediment gravity flows accelerating downslope. We propose cascading dense water, a type of current that is driven by seawater density contrast, as the source of these flows. The sensitivity of such ephemeral hydrodynamic events to climate change raises questions regarding implications for future variation of the distribution and magnitude of a significant seafloor erosion process.


We establish a correspondence between orbifold and singular elliptic genera of a global quotient. While the former is defined in terms of the fixed point set of the action, the latter is defined in terms of the resolution of singularities. As a byproduct, the second quantization formula of Dijkgraaf, Moore, Verlinde and Verlinde is extended to arbitrary Kawamata log-terminal pairs.


OzFlux is the regional Australian and New Zealand flux tower network that aims to provide a continental-scale national research facility to monitor and assess trends, and improve predictions, of Australia's terrestrial biosphere and climate. This paper describes the evolution, design, and current status of OzFlux as well as provides an overview of data processing. We analyse measurements from all sites within the Australian portion of the OzFlux network and two sites from New Zealand. The response of the Australian biomes to climate was largely consistent with global studies except that Australian systems had a lower ecosystem water-use efficiency. Australian semi-arid/arid ecosystems are important because of their huge extent (70 %) and they have evolved with common moisture limitations. We also found that Australian ecosystems had a similar radiationuse efficiency per unit leaf area compared to global values that indicates a convergence toward a similar biochemical efficiency. The two New Zealand sites represented extremes in productivity for a moist temperate climate zone, with the grazed dairy farm site having the highest GPP of any OzFlux site (2620 gC m−2 yr−1) and the natural raised peat bog site having a very low GPP (820 gC m−2 yr−1). The paper discusses the utility of the flux data and the synergies between flux, remote sensing, and modelling. Lastly, the paper looks ahead at the future direction of the network and concludes that there has been a substantial contribution by OzFlux, and considerable opportunities remain to further advance our understanding of ecosystem response to disturbances, including drought, fire, land-use and land-cover change, land management, and climate change, which are relevant both nationally and internationally. It is suggested that a synergistic approach is required to address all of the spatial, ecological, human, and cultural challenges of managing the delicately balanced ecosystems in Australasia.


Politics is one field in which patriarchy has enjoyed some level of acceptance over the years. For instance, some researchers (Gidengil and Everitt 1999; Sapiro 1993; Atanga 2007) have indicated that many people have always perceived politics as the field for 'men'. Accordingly, women who subscribe to the 'ideals' of womanhood should not engage in politics. This does not only constrain women's political ambitions, but it also constructs them as politically weak and unfit for such 'serious' business. This assumption has however been challenged by the changing roles of women as they construct multiple identities. In this paper, I discuss two texts (profiles of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and George Weah) from the BBC produced on the Liberian election in 2005, which represent both the traces and changes in patriarchal practices in Africa. Important to this election was that Mrs Johnson-Sirleaf (if elected) was going to be the first female African president – a role perceived as inconsistent with socio-cultural roles of (African) women. So, to what extent was gender (rather than experience) considered a major factor in the BBC's profiles? The results show that this political discourse is gendered because a man and a woman are the major aspirants. However, the issue of 'gender' becomes 'omni-relevant' (Holmes 1997) and explicit only in Mrs Johnson-Sirleaf's profile. This, I argue, is because the text producers perceive her to be 'the deviant' one. In this way, her political ambition is presented as a challenge to patriarchy.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the relation between alcohol intake and incidence of type 2 diabetes.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
This prospective study included 8,663 men with fasting plasma glucose measurements from at least two medical examinations. Alcohol intake was classified into five groups: nondrinkers and four quartiles (Qs) of drinkers according to the amount of alcohol intake. Type 2 diabetes was diagnosed by 1997 American Diabetes Association criteria.

RESULTS
There were 149 incident cases of type 2 diabetes during 52,588 person-years of follow-up. There was a U-shaped association between alcohol intake and diabetes, with the lowest incidence of diabetes at Q2 (61.9-122.7 g/week). As compared with Q2, men in Q3 and Q4 had a 2.2- (95% CI 1.2-3.9, P = 0.01) and 2.4-fold (1.4-4.4, P<0.01) risk of developing diabetes, while nondrinkers and men in Q1 had 1.8- (1.0-3.3, P<0.05) and 1.4-fold (0.7-2.6, P = 0.34) higher risk of diabetes, respectively. These associations persisted after adjustment for age, fasting plasma glucose, smoking, BMI, blood pressure, serum triglyceride concentration, cardiorespiratory fitness, HDL cholesterol, waist circumference, and parental diabetes.

CONCLUSIONS
We observed an elevated risk of developing type 2 diabetes in nondrinkers and men with high alcohol intakes, when compared with men who reported moderate alcohol intake. Men with a high alcohol intake may be able to reduce their risk of developing type 2 diabetes if they drink less.


Let B be a basis of a Euclidean lattice, and B an approximation thereof. We give a sufficient condition on the closeness between B and B so that an LLL-reducing transformation U for B remains valid for B. Further, we analyse an efficient reduction algorithm when B is itself a small deformation of an LLL-reduced basis. Applications include speeding-up reduction by keeping only the most significant bits of B, reducing a basis that is only approximately known, and efficiently batching LLL reductions for closely related inputs.


Objectives: To study the effects of a faith-based smoking cessation intervention during Ramadan among Malay male smokers working in public offices. Methods: This was a quasi-experimental study conducted during Ramadan 2015. The intervention was developed based on the constructs within the Theory of Planned Behaviour. The intervention intended to increase the intention and the perceived behaviour control to stop smoking among Muslim smokers during Ramadan. The outcomes measured were changes in the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence score and saliva cotinine levels. Data were collected at baseline (5 days before Ramadan), during Ramadan (21st day of Ramadan) and post-Ramadan (21 days after Ramadan). Statistical tests to examine changes within and between groups were carried out and the significance level was set at p < 0.05. Results: During Ramadan, the saliva cotinine level decreased significantly in both groups (p = 0.001 in the control group and p = < 0.001 in the intervention group). However, after Ramadan, it remained significant only in the intervention group (p = 0.025). A significant change between the groups was only noticed during Ramadan (p = 0.049). Conclusion: The reduction in the saliva cotinine level was found to be more sustainable post-Ramadan in the intervention group. This finding could indicate the positive effect of using this culturally-competent intervention to encourage smoking cessation during Ramadan.


The major objective of this study was to examine the relationship between the institutional environment of microfinance and access of rural women to microfinance. Focus group sessions were held with groups of rural women who are clients of formal and informal Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Esan Local Government Area of Edo State, Nigeria. The two formal institutions were the Ekpoma branch of Lift Above Poverty Organization Microfinance Bank and the Ujoelen Microfinance Bank. Fifteen case studies with fourteen women and one man were also examined. They had all accessed loans from formal and/or informal MFIs. Main findings Institutional environment: The traditional informal microfinance institutions still exist side by side with the formal MFIs. These informal mechanisms have not been absorbed into the regulated microfinance sector. They are still very popular with rural women, many of whom have belonged to these "meetings†for over a decade. These informal thrift and credit societies still remain the only source of funds available to poor women who have not been able to access the formal sector microfinance institutions. Why are rural women poor? According to respondents, rural women in the study area are poor because of heavy family responsibilities. They have to feed their family when the husband does not provide because they cannot leave their children hungry. Additionally, they pay their children's school fees as they do not want their children to be driven out of school. As a result of all these factors, women do not have enough capital for their trading and farming activities and cannot save. The women are hardworking and if they have capital they can trade with it and lift themselves out of poverty. The respondents gave examples of successful business women in the area that succeeded because they had access to credit from LAPO and other sources. Why it is difficult for women to borrow from banks? Rural women in particular find it difficult to borrow from banks because most do not have bank accounts, they have no collateral to present to the bank, and many women do not know the procedures for accessing bank loans. As they explained, while men inherit land and other property which they can use as collateral, women do not inherit property. They also said that women need their husband's consent to borrow money from the bank. Sources of microfinance for rural women: The main source of finance for the majority of rural women is their contribution from their savings/market association. However, with the advent of microfinance banks, more rural women are now accessing formal microfinance institutions. Rural women have accessed loans from the Lift Above Poverty Organization (LAPO) and Ujoelen Microfinance Banks. One of the women's groups also accessed credit from a government agency – the National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP). Some of the more successful women have accessed multiple sources of credit over the years as their businesses have expanded. None of the participants has accessed loans from any of the commercial banks which have established microfinance banks/departments operating in the study area. Impact of microfinance on women's businesses and lives: According to the women interviewed, microcredit has had positive impacts on their businesses and family life. Many of them have been able to expand their businesses. In some cases, they no longer have to buy goods on credit thereby avoiding interest payments and increasing their profits. At the family level, unlike in the past, they can make more contributions to their family upkeep, they eat better food, are able to pay children's fees regularly and with less stress. A few who were so inclined have joined political parties such as the PDP and AC. However, to properly assess the impact of microfinance, a quantitative study using measures of impacts will be more reliable. Government policy and access to microfinance in rural areas of Edo State: In the study area, government policy has helped to bring formal microcredit sources to women on a larger scale. The Community Banks that transformed into MFBs now target women as microfinance client, which they did not do when they operated as Community Banks. Microcredit is also available to women through the LAPO, which has always targeted women's groups. However, while the formal institutions have transformed into Microfinance Banks as required by the government's Microfinance Policy, the traditional savings institutions still remain outside the regulated microfinance sector. Recommendations: From our findings, we would like to recommend and emphasize the following: * Informal microfinance institutions should be registered at the local government level and encouraged to keep good records in order to provide data on the volume of informal sector transactions in microfinance. * Women find it difficult to access formal finance institutions for several reasons, including lack of collateral or bank accounts and the belief that women do not repay loans. * More MFBs should be established in all Local Government Areas (LGAs) in order to reach the rural dwellers, especially women who should be targets of MFB operations. * Commercial banks which have established microfinance departments should develop products that target rural self-employed women. * MFBs should be properly supervised to protect depositors' funds. The experiences of depositors with failed Community Banks should not be repeated. Access to microfinance can help rural self-employed women to expand their businesses and improve their personal and family well-being. Women will be encouraged to open bank accounts if they are assured that their deposits are safe and that they will be able to access loans for their businesses at reasonable terms such as low interest rates and convenient savings and repayment schedules.


Primary liver cancer is the third most common cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, with a particularly high incidence in Asian countries. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) accounts for 85-90% of primary liver cancers, and is responsible for approximately 660,000 deaths worldwide each year (1). Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is the most common cause of infectious liver diseases. About 400 million people suffer from chronic HBV infection worldwide, and approximately 60% of HCC cases each year are related to chronic HBV infection (2). It has been suggested that viral factors (e.g., HBV-DNA levels, genotypes, and genomic mutations), host factors (e.g., age, sex, race, and immune status), and unhealthy lifestyles might contribute to the progression of liver diseases (3).


Extracting opinion targets is an important task in sentiment analysis on product reviews and complementary entities (products) are one important type of opinion targets that may work together with the reviewed product. In this paper, we address the problem of Complementary Entity Recognition (CER) as a supervised sequence labeling with the capability of expanding domain knowledge as key-value pairs from unlabeled reviews, by automatically learning and enhancing knowledge-based features. We use Conditional Random Field (CRF) as the base learner and augment CRF with knowledge-based features (called the Knowledge-based CRF or KCRF for short). We conduct experiments to show that KCRF effectively improves the performance of supervised CER task.


The accumulation of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) over the past few decades has contributed to the development of clinical treatment guidelines (Chambless & Ollendick, 2001; Forbes et al., 2010; Truax & Thomas, 2003). Two treatments that have gained substantial support are Prolonged Exposure (PE) and Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT). Although these treatments result in most participants losing their PTSD diagnosis and obtaining meaningful reductions in symptoms, some clients remain refractory to treatment. Researchers have worked to identify predictors of treatment outcome, but have given minimal attention to aspects of client avoidance as process variables that could impact recovery. The current paper evaluates the role of client avoidance process variables on PTSD treatment outcome. Using therapy session tapes and client chart files for 70 participants who underwent CPT in two NIH-funded trials, the role of in-session avoidance, homework noncompliance, and irregular attendance were evaluated. Among in-session avoidance variables, greater avoidance of the trauma memory was negatively correlated with a reduction in posttraumatic symptoms. However, due to lack of variability in in-session engagement variables, few meaningful correlations were obtained for other in-session avoidance variables and PTSD and depression treatment outcome. Among the homework variables, perceived helpfulness of homework among completers was the only significant predictor of PTSD symptom change. Finally, attendance compliance and irregular session attendance did not significantly predict PTSD and depression change scores. Implications of these findings are discussed. Gloth, Chelsea, 2016, UMSL, p.5 The Role of Client Avoidance on PTSD Recovery throughout the Course of Trauma


Summary.  Continuous monitoring of the evolution of the economy is fundamental for the decisions of public and private decision makers. The paper proposes EUROMIND, which is a new monthly indicator of the euro area economic conditions, based on tracking real gross domestic product monthly, relying on information provided in the Eurostat Euro‐IND database. EUROMIND has several original economic and statistical features. First, it considers both the output and the expenditure sides of the economy, as it provides a monthly estimate of the value added of the six branches of economic activity and of the main gross domestic product components by type of expenditure (final consumption, gross capital formation and net exports), and combines the estimates with optimal weights reflecting their relative precision. Second, the indicator is based on information at both the monthly and the quarterly level, modelled with a dynamic factor specification cast in state space form. Third, since estimation of the multivariate dynamic factor model with mixed frequency data can be numerically complex, computational efficiency is achieved by implementing univariate filtering and smoothing procedures. Finally, special attention is paid to chain linking and its implications, via a multistep procedure that exploits the additivity of the volume measures expressed at the prices of the previous year.


The identification of four sortase homologues srtA-D in the pneumococcal genome prompted their investigation as candidate pneumococcal virulence factors. Not all of these sortase genes were present in both sequenced strains and so sortase gene distribution was investigated among a collection of clinical isolates. In contrast to srtB, C and D, srtA was found in all strains examined and so was selected for further study. It was subsequently found to contribute to pneumococcal virulence in mouse models of pneumonia, bacteraemia and colonisation. This is the first demonstration of a contribution of srtA to pneumococcal virulence. To complement this examination of srtA, some of the surface proteins known or likely to be anchored by SrtA were also investigated for a role in virulence in the animal model of pneumonia.

In addition, two genes, annotated in the pneumococcal genomes as a macrophage infectivity potentiator protein and an exfoliative toxin A were also investigated and found to be novel pneumococcal virulence factors. However, it appears they have been incorrectly annotated and these genes do not represent a macrophage infectivity potentiator protein and exfoliative toxin A. Instead, one of them seems to be involved in the response to oxidative stress while no function for the other can yet be ascertained.

Janus mutagenesis is a novel technique for manipulation of the pneumococcal genome allowing the creation of mutations that lack a selectable marker. This provides an accessible and potentially powerful method to easily alter the genome to make informative mutations. This thesis describes the first use, to our knowledge, of Janus mutagenesis to investigate pneumococcal virulence.


Like alcohol or other drugs, music is often enjoyed by humans for its mood-altering effects. However, there is substantial individual variation in emotional responding to music (ERM). The present study investigated potential roles of trait variables in ERM. Recruitment and testing of 205 adult regular music listeners was accomplished online. They were asked to complete the Geneva Emotional Music Scale (GEMS) retrospectively by rating the felt intensity of 45 music-related emotions based on what they typically experienced when listening to their favorite music. They also completed instruments assessing traits of alexithymia, affect intensity, and empathy, as well as the Big Five factors. Alexithymia, affect intensity, and empathy, but not the Big Five, were moderately positively correlated with ERM as measured by GEMS. In a hierarchical regression, alexithymia and empathy were significant positive predictors of ERM after controlling for the other variables; extraversion was also significant in the final model. The role of empathy as a predictor of ERM was consistent with the emotional contagion interpretation of ERM. The unexpected positive relationship of alexithymia with ERM suggests that alexithymic listeners may rely on music to help them experience emotions more fully. Limitations and potential implications of the findings are discussed.


Background and aims The incidence of liver disease is increasing in the UK; it is now the 3rd commonest cause of death in those aged under 65. People with cirrhosis often have complex physical problems that require regular comprehensive management. Limited evidence exists on the ways that people with cirrhosis cope with the disease. We aimed to explore their experience to ascertain whether current levels of healthcare support were sufficient. Methods Ten people with cirrhosis were recruited from hepatology clinics in one liver transplant centre. In semi-structured qualitative interviews, we explored their understanding of their disease and prognosis; healthcare services received; specific problems encountered; concerns for the future. Interviews were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim. Data were analysed using a Framework approach. Results Our sample was 50% male: 5 were on the liver transplant list. Everyone said that the healthcare they received from the hospital was good; staff continuity and relationships with clinicians were seen as important. However, people lacked understanding of their diagnosis, health status and symptoms and wanted more management advice and psychological support. Contacting a member of the clinical team was difficult if problems developed at home, leading to A+E attendance. Limited discussions were held about disease progression and future care if treatment failed. Conclusions Symptom burden in people with cirrhosis is high and needs are complex. Active communication from professionals about current disease status and likely progression may enable better understanding and encourage involvement in plans for their future care. References Poonja Z, Brisebois A, van Zanten SV, et al. Patients with cirrhosis and denied liver transplants rarely receive adequate palliative care or appropriate management. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol 2014;12(4):692–698 Kimbell B, Boyd K, Kendall M, Iredale J, Murray SA. Managing uncertainty in advanced liver disease: a qualitative, multi-perspective, serial interview study. BMJ Open 2015;e009241. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2015-009241


A qualitative study explored the private realities of forty‐five Australian Indigenous parents and carers who had experiences with child protection authorities. Interviews focused on the nature of the relationship between parents and authorities, how these regulatory encounters served to enlist or dissolve cooperation, and how child‐focused outcomes could be delivered. The descriptions of encounters with authorities challenged the public hope for reconciliation between government and Indigenous Australians through reports of procedural injustice, failure by the authority to communicate and demonstrate soundness of purpose, and through lack of interest in identity affirmation and relationship building. In spite of these perceptions of integrity failings in how child protection authorities have operated, a positive role was acknowledged for authorities' future involvement, albeit with different strategies from those currently experienced. How this progression might be facilitated by principles of restorative justice and responsive regulation is discussed.


Simulated virtual environments serve as one of the main driving forces behind developing and evaluating skill learning algorithms. However, existing environments typically only simulate rigid body physics. Additionally, the simulation process usually does not provide gradients that might be useful for planning and control optimizations. We introduce a new differentiable physics benchmark called PasticineLab, which includes a diverse collection of soft body manipulation tasks. In each task, the agent uses manipulators to deform the plasticine into the desired configuration. The underlying physics engine supports differentiable elastic and plastic deformation using the DiffTaichi system, posing many under-explored challenges to robotic agents. We evaluate several existing reinforcement learning (RL) methods and gradient-based methods on this benchmark. Experimental results suggest that 1) RL-based approaches struggle to solve most of the tasks efficiently; 2) gradient-based approaches, by optimizing open-loop control sequences with the built-in differentiable physics engine, can rapidly find a solution within tens of iterations, but still fall short on multi-stage tasks that require long-term planning. We expect that PlasticineLab will encourage the development of novel algorithms that combine differentiable physics and RL for more complex physics-based skill learning tasks.


Abstract. The influence of vegetation upon bedload transport and channel morphodynamics is examined along a channel stability gradient ranging from meandering to anabranching to anabranching–braided to fully braided planform conditions along trunk and tributary reaches of the Upper Yellow River in western China. Although the regional geology and climate are relatively consistent across the study area, there is a distinct gradient in the presence and abundance of riparian vegetation for these reaches atop the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (elevations in the study area range from 2800 to 3400 m a.s.l.). To date, the influence of vegetative impacts upon channel planform and bedload transport capacity of alluvial reaches of the Upper Yellow River remains unclear because of a lack of hydrological and field data. In this region, the types and pattern of riparian vegetation vary with planform type as follows: trees exert the strongest influence in the anabranching reach, the meandering reach flows through meadow vegetation, the anabranching–braided reach has a grass, herb, and sparse shrub cover, and the braided reach has no riparian vegetation. A non-linear relation between vegetative cover on the valley floor and bedload transport capacity is evident, wherein bedload transport capacity is the highest for the anabranching reach, roughly followed by the anabranching–braided, braided, and meandering reaches. The relationship between the bedload transport capacity of a reach and sediment supply from upstream exerts a significant influence upon channel stability. Bedload transport capacity during the flood season (June–September) in the braided reach is much less than the rate of sediment supply, inducing bed aggradation and dynamic channel adjustments. Rates of channel adjustment are less pronounced for the anabranching–braided and anabranching reaches, while the meandering reach is relatively stable (i.e., this is a passive meandering reach).


The engagement of CD137 (4-1BB), an inducible T cell costimulatory receptor and member of the TNF receptor superfamily, by agonistic Abs can promote strong tumor and viral immunity mediated by CD8+ T cells and stimulate IFN-γ production. However, its role in Th2-mediated immune responses has not been well defined. To address this issue, we studied the function of CD137 engagement using an allergic airway disease model in which the mice were sensitized with inactivated Schistosoma mansoni eggs followed by S. mansoni egg Ag challenge directly in the airways and Th1/2 cytokine production was monitored. Interestingly, treatment of C57BL/6 mice with agonistic anti-CD137 (2A) during sensitization completely prevents allergic airway inflammation, as shown by a clear inhibition of T cell and eosinophil infiltration into the lung tissue and airways, accompanied by diminished Th2 cytokine production and reduced serum IgE levels, as well as a reduction of airway hyperresponsiveness. At various time points after immunization, restimulated splenocytes from 2A-treated mice displayed reduced proliferation and Th2 cytokine production. In accordance with this, agonistic Ab to CD137 can directly coinhibit Th2 responses in vitro although it costimulates Th1 responses. CD137-mediated suppression of Th2 response is independent of IFN-γ and T regulatory cells. Our study has identified a novel pathway to inhibit Th2 responses in a CD137-dependent fashion.


Aluminum tolerance in European barley is affected by retrotransposon insertion in the upstream sequence of the major aluminum tolerance gene HvAACT1 and its DNA methylation status. Aluminum (Al) toxicity is a major stress factor limiting crop productivity in acid soil. Although there is great genotypic variation in tolerance to Al toxicity, the underlying molecular mechanisms are poorly understood. Here, we report that, in barley (Hordeum vulgare), the fourth largest cereal crop produced in the world, both retrotransposon insertion and DNA methylation are involved in regulating differential Al tolerance. HvAACT1 is a major gene responsible for citrate secretion from the roots for external detoxification of Al. A multiretrotransposon-like (MRL) sequence insertion at least 15.3 kb in length was detected in the upstream genomic region of HvAACT1 that displayed promoter activity and significantly enhanced HvAACT1 expression, especially in the root tips of Al-tolerant accessions. Furthermore, in a number of accessions with low levels of HvAACT1 expression, this MRL insertion was present but highly methylated. Geographical analysis showed that accessions with this MRL insertion are distributed mainly in European areas with acid soils. Two wild barley accessions were found to possess this MRL insertion, but with a high degree of methylation. These results indicate that the MRL insertion and its degree of DNA methylation influence HvAACT1 expression and that demethylation of this MRL insertion, which facilitates adaptation to acid soils, occurred following barley domestication. Moreover, our results indicate that barley accessions in East Asia and Europe have developed independent but equivalent strategies to withstand Al toxicity in acid soils.


The creation of an era itself, as rhetoric of time, creates the otherness from which it builds up its own borders. Thus the creation of an era goes hand in hand with identity formation. The beginning of the 20th century, as the boundary of an era, appears as such a self-re ective moment in the life of Târgu Mure . The study aims at presenting the social, economic and cultural changes of this period, notably the time when Gyorgy Bernady was the mayor, the most signi cant period of urbanization of the town, the moment of the conscious designation of the above mentioned boundary of an era. It makes an attempt to grasp the beginning of the powerful personality cult of the former mayor; it analyzes those strategies of canonization and discourses that have played a key role in the process of the myth-formation of the hero and its time. In this era the process of Gyorgy Bernady's raising to the status of a cultural hero took place. The articles, which appeared in the local press, give a clear-cut image about what kind of judgements and appreciations have developed about the city and its councillor, as well as the infrastructural and cultural development.


The presence of sulphate, bicarbonate and orthophosphate can change the type of solid present in systems containing cupric ion or cupric hydroxide solids. In some cases, a short-term reduction in copper solubility is realized, but over longer periods of time formation of basic cupric sulphate (brochantite) and even cupric phosphate can ultimately prevent the formation of very insoluble tenorite or malachite phases. To the extent that this occurs, the presence of sulphate and phosphate in water can increase copper solubility over much longer time periods. The relative effect can depend on the anion concentration and the rate of solids precipitation. Low levels of sulphate tend to hasten the transition from cupric hydroxide to tenorite, whereas higher levels of sulphate can interfere with that transition. These possible effects should be considered when attempting to reduce copper corrosion by-product release from consumer plumbing and similar transitions are likely important for other plumbing materials such as zinc, iron and lead.


Polyphenols are thought to be an interesting ergogenic aid for exercise and recovery. However, most studies regarding the effects of polyphenols investigated several days of supplementations. The present work aimed to study the effects of an acute intake of grape and apple polyphenols on the capacity to maintain intense exercise, here named endurance performance. Forty-eight physically active men (31 ± 6 years) were included in this study. During the two testing sessions, volunteers completed an endurance test at a high percentage of their maximal aerobic power and time to exhaustion was measured. Respiratory and pain parameters were also monitored. The preceding evening and 1 h before testing, volunteers had to absorb either 500 mg of polyphenols or placebo according to randomization. In comparison with the placebo, the mean duration of the maximal endurance test was significantly increased with polyphenols (+9.7% ± 6.0%, p < 0.05). The maximal perceived exertion was reached later with polyphenols (+12.8% ± 6.8%, p < 0.05). Practically, the present study showed the beneficial effects of grape and apple polyphenols for athletes looking for endurance performance improvements. The specifically designed profile of polyphenols appeared to enhance the capacity to maintain intensive efforts and delay perceived exertion.


ABSTRACT Twenty-six million Americans play the game of golf. Because of the extended amount of time that golfers spend in the sun, they may have a higher risk of developing skin cancer and precancerous lesions than the general population. Because a significant percentage of a person's lifetime sun exposure is attained before the age of 25, there is a need to educate younger golfers on the importance of sun protection. The Sun SafeTee Program is a nonprofit organization that provides sun protection education and skin cancer prevention programs specifically to the golf community. Through a consortium of golf organizations and associations, Sun SafeTee delivers a consistent, informative, and branded message of sun protection from the time someone enters the game of golf as a child, into high school, through college, and beyond. The Sun SafeTee Program is an excellent resource for your patients who play golf and their families. Sun SafeTee is seeking assistance in providing their message through seminars, workshops, tournament support, and skin cancer screenings for golfers.


We demonstrate a Fourier pulse-shaper-based differential group delay (DGD) emulator which can be programmed to possess arbitrary user-specified frequency dependent DGD profile. The DGD produced can be up to 400ps range with <1ps accuracy. Generated frequency-dependent DGD profiles are in excellent agreement with numerical simulations.


Carbohydrate partitioning represents a central problem of process−based models of tree growth because of the coupling between carbon partitioning, growth, and architecture. PEACH was an early, sink−driven, carbohydrate partitioning model for simulating reproductive and vegetative growth of fruit trees. Carbon partitioning in that model was based on the hypothesis that a tree grows as a collection of semi−autonomous but interacting sinks (organs), and that these organs compete for resources. Organs of the same type were clustered into composite compartments, such as roots, fruit, or stems. Carbon was allocated to compartments depending on their competitive ability with respect to other compartments, and relative proximity to carbon sources. Biomass growth was dependent on an experimentally derived growth potential for each organ type. This approach made it possible to avoid the empirical allocation coefficients, functional balance rules, and allometric relationships that were common to most other tree models at the time. However, as pointed out by Le Roux et al., the PEACH model almost entirely ignored the interaction between tree architecture and carbon allocation. In addition, each organ type was treated collectively as a single compartment, and thus all organs of the same type grew at the average rate for that organ. Because of these limitations, there was no potential to simulate differences in organ size or quality as a function of location in the canopy. It was also impossible to use this model structure to simulate the function of individual organs and capture the influence of their performance on patterns of carbon partitioning. Overcoming these limitations requires a more detailed model of carbon economy, in which growth and function of each organ is modeled individually within an architecturally explicit model of canopy growth.


ABSTRACT One aspect of successful aging is maintaining cognitive functioning, which includes both subjective cognitive functioning and objective cognitive functioning even in lieu of subtle cognitive deficits that occur with normal, nonpathological aging. Age-related cognitive deficits emerge across several domains including attention, memory, language, speed of processing, executive, and psychomotor, just to name a few. A primary theory explaining such cognitive deficits is cognitive reserve theory; it posits that biological factors such as demyelination and oxidative stress interfere with neuronal communication, which eventually produces observable deficits in cognitive functioning. Therefore, it is important to maintain or improve cognitive reserve to augment cognitive functioning in later life. This article provides a general overview of the principles of geroneuropsychology along with implications for nursing practice and research.


Our contribution deals with the human skin voltage chart measurement. The human skin has a certain impedance or resistance - it can be easily described and simulated using a substitute electric circuit. But the skin also contains parts with measurably lower impedance and different electric properties – we can show them clearly by measurement of voltage chart. We have concentrated our effort on finding and following the measurement of active points on certain part of the skin's surface, to acknowledge their existence and positions through a measuring process. The parameters of the measured voltage chart are influenced by the amplitude, frequency and the shape of the measuring electric signal. We focused our research effort in this paper to measure the frequency influence and then the influence of the shape of the driving signal.


This article builds on the growing line of inquiry into methodological practices in quantitative second language (L2) research. Specifically, the study uses synthetic techniques to examine changes over time in research and reporting practices. 606 primary reports of quantitative L2 research from two journals- Language Learning and Studies in Second Language Acquisition-were surveyed on different design features, statistical analyses, and data reporting practices. Frequencies and percentages of each feature were then calculated and compared across the 1990s and the first decade of the 2000s to examine changes taking place in the field. The results, while not necessarily representative of all substantive and methodological approaches within the domain of L2 research, indicate numerous changes including increases in sample sizes, delayed posttesting, and the availability of critical data such as effect sizes, reliability estimates, and standard deviations to accompany means. With respect to statistical procedures, the range of analyses has not changed, and the field continues its unfortunate reliance on statistical significance. The findings are grouped according to three themes, which are discussed in light of previous reviews in this and other fields: (a) means-based analyses, (b) missing data, null hypothesis significance testing, and the 'power problem,' and (c) design preferences. The article concludes with an extended call for reform targeting six groups of stakeholders in the field. Most notably, an argument is made for field-specific methodological standards and enhancements to graduate curricula and training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]


Abstract—Prestressed concrete is used a lot in infrastructures such as roads or bridges. However, poor grout filling and PC steel corrosion are currently major issues of prestressed concrete structures. One of the problems with nondestructive corrosion detection of PC steel is a plastic pipe which covers PC steel. The insulative property of pipe makes a nondestructive diagnosis difficult; therefore a practical technology to detect these defects is necessary for the maintenance of infrastructures. The goal of the research is a development of an electrochemical technique which enables to detect internal defects from the surface of prestressed concrete nondestructively. Ideally, the measurements should be conducted from the surface of structural members to diagnose non-destructively. In the present experiment, a prestressed concrete member is simplified as a layered specimen to simulate a current path between an input and an output electrode on a member surface. The specimens which are layered by mortar and the prestressed concrete constitution materials (steel, polyethylene, stainless steel, or galvanized steel plates) were provided to the alternating current impedance measurement. The magnitude of an applied electric field was 0.01-volt or 1-volt, and the frequency range was from 106 Hz to 10-2 Hz. The frequency spectrums of impedance, which relate to charge reactions activated by an electric field, were measured to clarify the effects of the material configurations or the properties. In the civil engineering field, the Nyquist diagram is popular to analyze impedance and it is a good way to grasp electric relaxation using a shape of the plot. However, it is slightly not suitable to figure out an influence of a measurement frequency which is reciprocal of reaction time. Hence, Bode diagram is also applied to describe charge reactions in the present paper. From the experiment results, the alternating current impedance method looks to be applicable to the insulative material measurement and eventually prestressed concrete diagnosis. At the same time, the frequency spectrums of impedance show the difference of the material configuration. This is because the charge mobility reflects the variety of substances and also the measuring frequency of the electric field determines migration length of charges which are under the influence of the electric field. However, it could not distinguish the differences of the material thickness and is inferred the difficulties of prestressed concrete diagnosis to identify the amount of an air void or a layer of corrosion product by the technique.


Malignant melanoma is one of the most aggressive forms of skin cancer which must be necessary to be diagnosed at the initial stage for effective treatment. Melanoma affects the patient life even it can become a reason of death if its diagnosis is not accomplished on time. Through a rough pigment network and some suspicious signs can be helpful for diagnosis the melanoma from dermoscopic images. According to the clinical studies, for dermatologists, it is quite difficult to identify these signs at the initial stage of melanoma. So, it is important to propose an automated system which can efficiently be identified and differentiate between benign and malignant melanoma. The main focus of this research article is to improve the skin lesion segmentation from low contrast and under/ over segmented dermoscopic images through fusing the region based active contour method with JSEG method. The proposed fused segmentation technique gain 95.3% accuracy and through our proposed feature vector the Gaussian classifier achieved the promising results as sensitivity 97.7%, specificity 96.7%, and accuracy 97.5% with handling the special dermoscopic image cases which are comparatively much better than numerous exiting techniques.


The law has developed principles for dealing with morally and legally responsible actors who act in ways that endanger others, the principles governing crime and punishment. And it has developed principles for dealing with the morally and legally nonresponsible but dangerous actors, the principles governing civil commitments. It has failed, however, to develop a cogent and justifiable set of principles for dealing with responsible actors who have not yet acted in ways that endanger others but who are likely to do so in the future, those whom we label "responsible but dangerous" actors, or RBDs. Indeed, as we argue, the criminal law has sought to punish RBDs through its expansive use of inchoate criminality; however, current criminalization and punishment practices punish those who have yet to perform a culpable act. In this article, we attempt to establish defensible grounds for preventive restrictions of liberty (PRLs) of RBDs in lieu of contorting the criminal law. Specifically, we argue that just as a culpable aggressor becomes liable to defensive force, an RBD can become liable to PRLs more generally. Although there are many examples of PRLs of RBDs currently in operation, the principles, if any, that justify and limit such PRLs have yet to be satisfactorily established.


Rapid dairy industry expansion in the South Island of New Zealand during the 1990's increased demand for agistment and supplementary feed. Consultants and retailers recognised the ability of whole-crop cereal silage to provide the extra feed required. The local arable industry had declined, creating the opportunity to develop commercial technical support packages from establishment to harvesting for sheep and dairy farmers growing whole-crop cereal silage. Industry technical support packages were supported by 'just in time' local research into the growing, making and feeding of whole-crop cereal silage. The package, based on several methods of payment, captured the benefits of new Triticale cultivars. Further investigation into the uptake of whole-crop cereal silage found that the knowledge of whole-crop cereal silage and the interactions between users, growers, technical support agents and agricultural contractors were significant factors in the use of this technology in the South Island of New Zealand.


In this paper we argue that whilst state regulation over teacher education in South Africa appears to be increasing, the current reform climate creates spaces for academics operating within Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to significantly influence official knowledge for teachers and teaching. We recruit aspects of Basil Bernsteini?½s sociology of pedagogy to analyse the policy and institutional context of teacher education reform, with specific reference to the production of specialist FET mathematics teachers. We contend that with some grasp of the changing spaces in which mathematics teacher educators now work, fragile as these are, there is a possibility to influence the production of criteria for official knowledge for mathematics teachers and teaching.


Many molecular biology assays depend in some way on the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to amplify an initially dilute target DNA sample to a detectable concentration level. But the design of conventional PCR thermocycling hardware, predominantly based on massive metal heating blocks whose temperature is regulated by thermoelectric heaters, severely limits the achievable reaction speed1. Considerable electrical power is also required to repeatedly heat and cool the reagent mixture, limiting the ability to deploy these instruments in a portable format. Thermal convection has emerged as a promising alternative thermocycling approach that has the potential to overcome these limitations2-9. Convective flows are an everyday occurrence in a diverse array of settings ranging from the Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and interior, to decorative and colorful lava lamps. Fluid motion is initiated in the same way in each case: a buoyancy driven instability arises when a confined volume of fluid is subjected to a spatial temperature gradient. These same phenomena offer an attractive way to perform PCR thermocycling. By applying a static temperature gradient across an appropriately designed reactor geometry, a continuous circulatory flow can be established that will repeatedly transport PCR reagents through temperature zones associated with the denaturing, annealing, and extension stages of the reaction (Figure 1). Thermocycling can therefore be actuated in a pseudo-isothermal manner by simply holding two opposing surfaces at fixed temperatures, completely eliminating the need to repeatedly heat and cool the instrument. One of the main challenges facing design of convective thermocyclers is the need to precisely control the spatial velocity and temperature distributions within the reactor to ensure that the reagents sequentially occupy the correct temperature zones for a sufficient period of time10,11. Here we describe results of our efforts to probe the full 3-D velocity and temperature distributions in microscale convective thermocyclers12. Unexpectedly, we have discovered a subset of complex flow trajectories that are highly favorable for PCR due to a synergistic combination of (1) continuous exchange among flow paths that provides an enhanced opportunity for reagents to sample the full range of optimal temperature profiles, and (2) increased time spent within the extension temperature zone the rate limiting step of PCR. Extremely rapid DNA amplification times (under 10 min) are achievable in reactors designed to generate these flows.


This article argues that the modes of governmentality characteristic of post-industrial risk societies have the potential to fatally compromise rule of law values. While, post-9/11, the desire to prevent future terrorist attacks is one driver of such policies, populist demands for measures such as the indefinite detention of violent offenders or the introduction into Australia of forms of Megan's Law, are equally potent forces. Against this background, this article explores a variety of phenomena characteristic of risk societies including the rise of gated communities and other forms of voluntary ghetto. When the management of anxieties becomes the core object of government, the author argues the primacy of this objective both overrides rule of law values such the presumption of innocence and replaces key liberal values such as tolerance and respect for the Other with a greatly expanded panopticon in which we are all commanded to take our place among the watchers (and, simultaneously, the watched).


Quantifying flow of information in a program involves calculating how much information (e.g. about secret inputs) can be leaked by observing the program's public outputs. Recently this field has attracted a lot of research interest, most of which makes use of Shannon's information theory, e.g. mutual information, conditional entropy, etc. Computability entails that any automated analysis of information is necessarily incomplete. Thus quantitative flow of analyses aim to compute upper bounds on the sizes of the flows in a program. Virtually all the current quantitative analyses treat program variables independently, which significantly limits the potential for deriving tight upper bounds. Our work is motivated by the intuition that knowledge of the dependencies between program variables should allow the derivation of more precise upper bounds on the size of flows, and that classical abstract interpretation provides an effective mechanism for determining such dependencies in the form of linear constraints. Our approach is then to view the problem as one of constrained optimization (maximum entropy), allowing us to apply the standard technique of Lagrange multiplier method. Application of this technique turns out to require development of some novel methods due to the essential use of non-linear (entropy) constraints, in conjunction with the linear dependency constraints. Using these methods we obtain more precise upper bounds on the size of information flows than is possible with existing analysis techniques.


■The Recovery Fund recently proposed by the EU Commission marks a sea-change in European integration. Yet it will not be enough to meet the challenges Europe faces. There has been much public debate about financing, but little about the sort of concrete projects that the EU should be putting public money into.■Here we propose a 10-year, €2tn investment programme focusing on public health, transport infrastructure and energy/decarbonisation. ■It consists of two pillars. In a national pillar Member States — broadly as in theCommission proposal — would be allocated €500bn. Resources should be focused on the hardest-hit countries and front-loaded: we suggest over a three-year horizon.■The bulk of the money —€1.5tn — would be devoted to finance genuinely European projects, where there is an EU value added. We describe a series of flagship initiatives that the EU could launch in the fields of public health, transport infrastructure and energy/decarbonisation. ■We call for a strengthened EU public health agency that invests in health-staff skillsand then facilitates their flexible deployment in emergencies, and is tasked withensuring supplies of vital medicines (Health4EU). ■We present costed proposals for two ambitious transport initiatives: a dedicated European high-speed rail network, the Ultra-Rapid-Train, with four-routes cuttingtravel times between EU capitals and regions, and, alternatively, an integrated European Silk Road initiative that combines transport modes on the Chinese model. ■In the area of energy/decarbonisation we seek to "electrify" the Green Deal. We call for funding to accelerate the realisation of a smart and integrated electricity gridfor 100%-renewable energy transmission (e-highway), support for complementary battery and green-hydrogen projects, and a programme, modelled on the SURE initiative, to co-finance member-state decarbonisation and Just Transition policies.■The crisis induced by the pandemic, coming as it does on top of the financial and euro crises, poses a huge challenge. The response needs to take account of the longer-run structural challenges, and above all that of climate change. The European Union should rise to these challenges in the reform of an ambitious medium-runrecovery programme, appropriately financed. An outline of such a programme isset out here by way of illustration, but many permutations and options are available to policymakers.


Compliance with - or deviance from - law is often dependent upon the law's convergence with - or divergence from - normative sensibilities. Where the legality and social acceptability of behavior diverge, some deviance is socially acceptable. Property rights evolve in response to changes in normative sensibilities. Constructing a model of acceptable deviance and applying it to property rights, we can predict and actually observe the evolution of property rights in response to changes in normative sensibilities in areas as diverse as file-sharing, foreclosures, the use of public space, and fishing rights. We can also predict and observe stresses in legal institutions created by divergences in the legality and social acceptability of behavior with regard to property rights. Law functions as an anchor on behavior, providing stability, but also space for deviance which permits the evolution of property rights.


Reducing the waits in emergency departments is important for patients
and is a government priority. In order to reduce waits the whole
system must be considered. The flow of patients before arrival at the
emergency department determines the workload of the department.
The staffing, resources and systems within the emergency department
are key to providing high quality timely care. The flow of patients after
leaving the emergency department until their return home will
determine whether they can be discharged from the department in a
timely manner. Despite the present focus on emergency care in the
NHS there have been no reviews of the literature to inform the present
changes to reduce waits.


The purpose of this paper is to analyze comparative efficiency of banking system in Pakistan comprising of Islamic banks (IB), conventional banks with Islamic banking division (IBD) and conventional banks (CB). For this purpose we use two methods: First, ratio analysis to analyze cost, revenue and profit efficiency; Second, data envelopment analysis (DEA), for comparative analysis of banks' technical, pure technical and scale efficiencies. We use efficiency scores of DEA to analyze the impact of size on the efficiency. Finally, we compare and contrast the efficiency estimates with the traditional measures of banks efficiency. We find that Islamic bank is more cost efficient and less revenue efficient. Considering their growth rate which is rudiment to scale efficiency (SE) we argue that Islamic banks should be encouraged to reach the efficient frontier in the banking industry by reducing their wastes. We further observe that hybrid banking may not be feasible form for banking industry in Pakistan. In view of the observed inverse relationship of size with scale efficiency we recommend reconsideration of the regulators' policy of increasing the capital base of the banks thus forcing them to increase their size.


Received: April 2016, Accepted: April 2017 Background: Pregnancy and labor is a natural process in human life which may be accompanied with challenges. Postpartum depression (PPD) is a common type of depression. Thus, the present study was conducted to determine the frequency of PPD and its possible risk factors in mothers referred to health centers in Rafsanjan, Iran, in 2015. Materials and Methods: The present descriptive study was performed on 250 women who had given birth in the previous 2-6 months and had referred to health centers in Rafsanjan for various care services in 2015. The subjects were randomly selected and entered into the study. The data collection tools consisted of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and a demographic characteristics checklist. The collected data were analyzed using chi-square test, t-test, and logistic regression. Results: Among the participants, 129 (68.5%) mothers had PPD. Of the studied factors, unplanned pregnancy could predicted the incidence of PPD (P = 0.004). No difference was observed between mothers with and without PPD in terms of pregnancy order, delivery method, education level, occupation, history of substance abuse, and previous history of depression. Conclusions: The prevalence of PPD in Rafsanjan is high. Unplanned pregnancy had a significant relationship with PPD; thus, the related specialists and authorities must plan and take measures in this regard.


We study the following problem: given a labeled dataset and a specific datapoint ∼x, how did the i-th feature influence the classification for ∼x? We identify a family of numerical influence measures — functions that, given a datapoint ∼x, assign a numeric value φi(∼x) to every feature i, corresponding to how altering i's value would influence the outcome for ∼x. This family, which we term monotone influence measures (MIM), is uniquely derived from a set of desirable properties, or axioms. The MIM family constitutes a provably sound methodology for measuring feature influence in classification domains; the values generated by MIM are based on the dataset alone, and do not make any queries to the classifier. While this requirement naturally limits the scope of our framework, we demonstrate its effectiveness on data.


Cognitive and social capacities require postnatal experience, yet the pathways by which experience guides development are unknown. Here we show that the normal development of motor and nonmotor capacities requires cerebellar activity. Using chemogenetic perturbation of molecular layer interneurons to attenuate cerebellar output in mice, we found that activity of posterior regions in juvenile life modulates adult expression of eyeblink conditioning (paravermal lobule VI, crus I), reversal learning (lobule VI), persistive behavior and novelty-seeking (lobule VII), and social preference (crus I/II). Perturbation in adult life altered only a subset of phenotypes. Both adult and juvenile disruption left gait metrics largely unaffected. Contributions to phenotypes increased with the amount of lobule inactivated. Using an anterograde transsynaptic tracer, we found that posterior cerebellum made strong connections with prelimbic, orbitofrontal, and anterior cingulate cortex. These findings provide anatomical substrates for the clinical observation that cerebellar injury increases the risk of autism.


Prosthetic vascular grafts are frequently used to reconstruct (part) of the aorta. Every surgical procedure caries a certain risk for infection and when a prosthetic aortic graft is implanted, this may lead to an aortic graft infection (AGI). Endovascular techniques have gradually replaced open surgical reconstructions as first line of treatment for aorto-iliac diseases. Nowadays, open reconstructions are primarily reserved for patients unsuitable for endovascular reconstructions or for redo surgical procedures, both of which have been identified as risk factors for graft infection. Most knowledge on AGI is derived from relatively older studies and may no longer be applicable in the current endovascular era. AGI is a rare and heterogenous disease and this results in a lack of knowledge on the incidence and on the best diagnostic and treatment options.

Data on the incidence of aortic graft infections is scarce and mainly comes from outdated case-series. These series are criticized because they lack a uniform definition of AGI and include a combination of patients with very different infectious risk profiles. In this thesis, strict inclusion and follow-up criteria were used to determine up to date 2 year incidence for AGI (4.5% (95% CI: 2.4 - 6.6)).

Establishing the diagnosis AGI is difficult and relies heavily on imaging modalities such as 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanning. 18F-FDG is a radioactive labeled glucose analog. Both inflammatory and infectious processes show an increased uptake of 18F-FDG and PET is therefore unable to differentiate between inflammation and infection. This thesis shows that the uptake patterns of uninfected vascular grafts display a large overlap with the pathological uptake patterns of infected grafts. This leads to the conclusion that the PET scan is inadequate in differentiating between uninfected and infected grafts in most cases. Assessing PET-scans is a complex process in which visual pattern interpretation and supplemental parameters are used to interpret the images. However, in this thesis, none of the commonly used parameters to interpret PET images were able to firmly diagnose AGI.

The surgical treatment of AGI relies on the removal of all infectious material (debridement) and constructing an alternative vascular route to the lower limbs. The treatment of a patient with an aortic graft infection should be tailor-made in which the choice of reconstruction depends on anatomic details, patient characteristics, and graft availability.

The debridement is often the most extensive part of the operation and by removing the graft itself, long ischemic times arise. The associated surgical trauma is severe and a significant part of the patients with AGI is not able to endure extensive surgery. Vacuum Assisted Closure directly on exposed infected vascular grafts in the groin, is a limited surgical approach with which an 87% successful wound healing can be attained. While this shows that VAC is able to safely preserve exposed (and infected) grafts in the groin, it is by no way a treatment of the infection itself. This therapy relies on antibiotics to suppress the infection to a level in which a patient is not systemically ill.


Comprehensive numerical simulations (reviewed in Dissipative Solitons, Akhmediev and Ankiewicz (Eds.), Springer, Berlin, 2005) of pulse solutions of the Cubic-Quintic Ginzburg-Landau equation (CGLE), a canonical equation governing the weakly nonlinear behavior of dissipative systems in a wide variety of disciplines, reveal various intriguing and entirely novel classes of solutions. In particular, there are five new classes of pulse or solitary waves solutions, viz. pulsating, creeping, snake, erupting, and chaotic solitons. In contrast to the regular solitary waves investigated in numerous integrable and non-integrable systems over the last three decades, these dissipative solitons are not stationary in time. Rather, they are spatially confined pulse-type structures whose envelopes exhibit complicated temporal dynamics. The numerical simulations also reveal very interesting bifurcations sequences of these pulses as the parameters of the CGLE are varied.
In this dissertation, we develop a theoretical framework for these novel classes of solutions. In the first part, we use a traveling wave reduction or a so-called spatial approximation to comprehensively investigate the bifurcations of plane wave and periodic solutions of the CGLE. The primary tools used here are Singularity Theory and Hopf bifurcation theory respectively. Generalized and degenerate Hopf bifurcations have also been considered to track the emergence of global structure such as homoclinic orbits. However, these results appear difficult to correlate to the numerical bifurcation sequences of the dissipative solitons.
In the second part of this dissertation, we shift gears to focus on the issues of central interest in the area, i.e., the conditions for the occurrence of the five categories of dissipative solitons, as well the dependence of both their shape and their stability on the various parameters of the CGLE, viz. the nonlinearity, dispersion, linear and nonlinear gain, loss and spectral filtering parameters. Our predictions on the variation of the soliton amplitudes, widths and periods with the CGLE parameters agree with simulation results.
For this part, we develop and discuss a variational formalism within which to explore the various classes of dissipative solitons. Given the complex dynamics of the various dissipative solutions, this formulation is, of necessity, significantly generalized over all earlier approaches in several crucial ways. Firstly, the two alternative starting formulations for the Lagrangian are recent and not well explored. Also, after extensive discussions with David Kaup, the trial functions have been generalized considerably over conventional ones to keep the shape relatively simple (and the trial function integrable!) while allowing arbitrary temporal variation of the amplitude, width, position, speed and phase of the pulses.
In addition, the resulting Euler-Lagrange equations are treated in a completely novel way. Rather than consider the stable fixed points which correspond to the well-known stationary solitons or plain pulses, we use dynamical systems theory to focus on more complex attractors viz. periodic, quasiperiodic, and chaotic ones. Periodic evolution of the trial function parameters on stable periodic attractors constructed via the method of multiple scales yield solitons whose amplitudes are non-stationary or time dependent. In particular, pulsating, snake (and, less easily, creeping) dissipative solitons may be treated in this manner. Detailed results are presented here for the pulsating solitary waves---their regimes of occurrence, bifurcations, and the parameter dependences of the amplitudes, widths, and periods agree with simulation results.
Finally, we elucidate the Hopf bifurcation mechanism responsible for the various pulsating solitary waves, as well as its absence in Hamiltonian and integrable systems where such structures are absent.
Results will be presented for the pulsating and snake soliton cases. Chaotic evolution of the trial function parameters in chaotic regimes identified using dynamical systems analysis would yield chaotic solitary waves. The method also holds promise for detailed modeling of chaotic solitons as well. This overall approach fails only to address the fifth class of dissipative solitons, viz. the exploding or erupting solitons.


Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a public health challenge in both developed and developing countries. Early diagnosis is essential in preventing the further spread of the disease, but the control programs are currently facing a number of constraints and fewer than 25% of all tuberculosis cases especially childhood cases are detected. We aimed to evaluate diagnostic accuracy of a commercially available qualitative immunoassay for the detection of lipoarabinomannan (LAM) antigen of Mycobacteria in human urine by comparing its sensitivity and specificity in TB patients with the AFB and GeneXpert in individuals with presumptive tuberculosis cases. Methods: A cross-sectional study that consecutively enrolled 53 eligible TB adults' patients attending TB Centre, Mangu, Plateau State from February to March 2017. We applied the LAM test on urine collected as a spot and early morning sample. Diagnostic accuracy was analyzed for a microbiological TB reference standard based on Gene Xpert MTB/RIF results and for a composite reference standard including clinical data. Performance of sputum smear microscopy (AFB) was included for comparison. Results: The mean age of the respondents was 41.0±17.0 years.) The male proportion was 36(68.0%) and female was 17(32.0%). The patients with HIV-1 Co-infection were 9(23.8%). Of the 53 patients, the positive testing rate of TB using LAM test was 11 (20.8 %). The proportion of those who tested positive using Gene Xpert was 9(17.0%) and AFB was 33(62.2%), and the sensitivity and specificity were 33.3% and 93.2%, respectively. Negative and positive predictive values were 87.23% and 50.0%, diagnostic accuracy was 83.02%. Conclusion: The study showed great sensitivity of urine LAM test suggesting it could be useful as point of care diagnostic test for presumptive TB cases. Its high negative predictive value suggests a role in screening out uninfected patients; though GeneXpert had superior sensitivity, but the ease of the LAM test holds operational advantage as a screening method, however larger studies are needed to further determine diagnostic accuracy.


Robotic odor source localization is a promising tool with numerous applications in safety, search and rescue, and environmental science. In this paper, we present an algorithm for odor source localization using multiple cooperating robots equipped with chemical sensors. Laplacian feedback is employed to maintain the robots in a formation, introducing spatial diversity that is used to better establish the position of the flock relative to the plume and its source. Robots primarily move upwind but use odor information to adjust their position and spacing so that they are centered on the plume and trace its structure. Real-world experiments were performed with an ethanol plume inside a wind tunnel, and used to both validate the algorithm and assess the impact of different formation shapes.


De-and remyelination in dopamine
receptor-deficient mice Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory
demyelinating disease of the central nervous-system with
destruction of myelin sheaths, axonal damage and only partial
remyelination. In non remyelinated MS lesions there is often a
significant loss of oligodendrocytes. The destruction of
oligodendrocytes happens predominantly at the beginning a lesion
occurs. In this work the effect of the dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2)
and D3 (DRD3) and dopamine agonist pramipexole relating to the
oligodendroglial survival in the model of cuprizone-induced
demyelination has been tested for toxicity. The literature has
shown the expression of DRD2 and DRD3 on oligodendrocyte percusor
cells (OPCs) and an effect on the extent of concentration of
oligodendrocytes. Our hypothesis is that dopamine
receptor-deficient mice compared to wild type (wt) mice have shown
an increased vulnerability of oligodendrocytes. Furthermore, it
should be investigated how far the therapy with pramipexole, a
dopamine D3 receptor agonist, receptor-independent or dependent,
leads to a protection of oligodendrocytes. With the help of various
histological and immunohistochemical methods we were allowed to
count the density of apoptotic oligodendrocytes and activated
microglia, which drew conclusions from the extent of tissue damage.
We could not find significant differences in the density of
apoptotic oligodendrocytes and activated microglia between the
different experimental groups. In one experiment, more apoptotic
oligodendrocytes were found in the animals of the wild-type PBS
(phosphate buffered saline) group compared with the
pramipexole-treated DRD3 knockout mice, which may allow to draw
conclusions from receptor-independent effects of pramipexole. These
results must be reproduced in further studies in detail and will
have to be verified. So it appears that endogenous dopamine
receptor system plays no significant role in our results - the
protection of oligodendrocytes in cuprizone-induced damage.
Furthermore, a preventive-protective effect of pramipexole
can


This essay discusses "non-state norms" from the perspective of American conflicts law. Commonly referred to as the "new lex mercatoria," these norms are drafted by various international or intra-national non-governmental organizations and are proposed for incorporation by contracting parties or for application by arbitrators, with or without the parties' prior consent. Understandably, these norms are popular among many arbitrators who tend to place them on the same footing as law. Current U.S. arbitration law uncritically permits this treatment to the extent it does not allow judicial review of an arbitrator's choice of law (or non-law). The fact that, unlike the law of most countries, American law generally enforces pre-dispute arbitration clauses in consumer contracts and most employment contracts can further exacerbate the situation. In contrast, in contracts that are not subject to arbitration, American courts apply non-state norms only to the extent they have been expressly incorporated into the contract and only if their application would not displace non-waivable rules of the law that would otherwise govern the contract. This essay applauds the latter position of American conflicts law but suggests that U.S. arbitration law should be reformed so as to provide needed protection to consumers, employees, and other presumptively weak parties.


A number of static checking techniques is based on constructing and refining an abstract reachability tree (ART) and reasoning about Linear Arithmetics. For example, in BLAST, each program statement is represented as a series of assignments of a linear functions to variables, and the procedure of predicate discovery relies on Craig interpolation of linear arithmetics and equality with uninterpreted function symbols. In this paper we propose an approach to extend the domain of mathematical operations a checker described can reason about with the certain operations with finite sets: adding and removing elements, testing whether set contains a particular element, or is empty. It being implemented, the ART doesn't split at each operation. The tradeoff of it is more complex formulas for a solver to handle and incapability of using set-related operations in loops. We implemented the algorithm, proceeding from the resriction of making no modification in LA+EUF interpolation algorithm. We also provide results of the performance evaluation of the algorithm proposed and of the other known way to reason about finite sets.


Indonesia is a country that is highly susceptible to disasters, particularly earthquakes. In the last decade, Indonesia has been hit by three large earthquakes; Aceh in December 2004, Yogyakarta in May 2006, and West Sumatra in September 2009. These earthquakes have created considerable losses to Indonesian communities, leading to 130,000 fatalities, US$10.3 billions in economic losses, and 500,000 heavily damaged houses. The extensiveness of housing reconstruction is the most problematic issue in the housing reconstruction programme sector. Although a community-based post-disaster housing reconstruction project (CPHRP) has been implemented, nevertheless the outcome was overshadowed by delays in delivery, cost escalation, unexpected quality, and community dissatisfaction. The implementation of good practice in project risk management in the construction industry is expected to enhance the success of CPHRP. Accordingly, this study aims to develop a risk management model for community-based post-disaster housing reconstruction approach.

In order to achieve the aim and objective of the research, multiple case studies are selected as research strategies. This study implements the sequential mixed method application, starting with a semi-structured interview and followed by a questionnaire survey as the primary method. Content analysis was used to analyse qualitative data, whilst descriptive and inferential statistics were deployed to analyse quantitative data.

The novelty of the research is as follows: this study reveals the importance of the understanding of a community-based approach in post-disaster housing reconstruction. Four highly significant advantages of CPHRP have been discovered, the most significant advantage being that it 'creates a sense of ownership' to beneficiaries of the project. The psychological advantage of CPHRP was also found to be greater than the construction advantage. Furthermore, the risk assessment revealed some high-risk events during the pre-construction stage of CPHRP. The project objective most affected by them is project time completion. A risk response document has also been proposed. Moreover, this study found twelve critical success factors (CSFs) of CPHRP, with the highest of the CSFs being 'transparency and accountability'. With careful attention paid to the above findings, it is expected that the success of the implementation of CPHRP can be increased.


Within organisations, business processes are increasingly supported by socio-technical systems — combinations of people and technologies working synergistically. In the commercial sector at least, business processes are increasingly complex and volatile due to the rapid pace of change in the marketplace, and this has an impact on their supporting systems. In this sector, organisations feel the same pressures for change from their shared context, and similarities should therefore be found in their responses to it. In a change situation, an organisation will typically have already functioning systems and processes upon which the impact of change in the problem context is felt. The issues raised by change are not, therefore, those of building solutions from scratch but those of adapting a current solution to the change. This is not a new observation: it is the basis of Business Process Re-engineering, for instance. Problem modelling, as suggested by Jackson's Problem Frames approach, is only beginning to be applied in an organisational setting; we suggest, in this paper, that it can (suitably extended) be used to capture patterns of change in this domain. One other characteristic of the Problem Frames approach is important to us: it provides a conceptual framework for correctness which, in this paper, we adapt to allow correctness of changed solutions to be inferred using stepwise arguments from those of the original solution. We illustrate our approach on a real world example taken from the files of a practising consultancy firm in the area of change management.


You know, they straightened out the Mississippi River in places, to make room for houses and livable acreage. Occasionally the river floods these places. "Floods" is the word they use, but in fact it is not flooding; it is remembering. Remembering where it used to be. All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was. Writers are like that: remembering where we were, what valley we ran through, what the banks were like, the light that was there and the route back to our original place. It is emotional memory – what the nerves and the skin remember as well as how it appeared. And a rush of imagination is our "flooding." (Morrison, 1995, pp. 98–99)


STOYANOV, H. P., 2014. Analysis and assessment of amphidiploids of Triticum-Aegilops group as a source of genetic diversity. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., Supplement 1: 173–178 Amphidiploids in Triticum-Aegilops group are an essential part of breeding programs of wheat species. Diffi culties arising from the wide hybridization, suggest further study of amphidiploids and also of their reactions to growing conditions. 10 amphidiploids of Triticum-Aegilops group were analyzed by their morphological, physiological and cytological characteristics in order to assess their importance as a source of genetic diversity. Based on the studied biological capabilities of amphidiploids, a genetic diversity evaluation index (GDEI) was calculated. The index demonstrates the general adaptive mechanisms of plant organism from each of the amphidiploid forms, under natural growing conditions. Most of the amphidiploid forms with stable physiological parameters are more close to the GDEI of winter wheat and rye (GDEI = 50–100), but highly productive to the characteristics of triticale (GDEI > 110). GDEI < 40 exhibit low adaptive potential to the growing conditions. These characteristics defi ne the studied accessions with GDEI > 50 as a good source of genetic diversity and a good initial material for breeding of cultural wheat species.


Abstract. Gravity waves are an ubiquitous feature of the atmosphere and influence
clouds in multiple ways. Regarding cirrus clouds, many studies have
emphasized the impact of wave-induced temperature fluctuations on the
nucleation of ice crystals. This paper investigates the impact of the waves
on the motion and distribution of ice particles, using the idealized 2-D
framework of a monochromatic gravity wave. Contrary to previous studies,
special attention is given to the impact of the wind field induced by the wave. Assuming no feedback of the ice on the water vapor content, theoretical and
numerical analyses both show the existence of a wave-driven localization of ice crystals, where some ice particles remain confined in a
specific phase of the wave. The precise location where the confinement occurs
depends on the background relative humidity, but it is always characterized
by a relative humidity near saturation and a positive vertical wind anomaly. Hence, the wave has an impact on the mean motion of the crystals
and may reduce dehydration in cirrus by slowing down the sedimentation of the
ice particles. The results also provide a new insight into the relation
between relative humidity and ice crystals' presence. The wave-driven localization is consistent with temperature–cirrus
relationships recently observed in the tropical tropopause layer (TTL) over
the Pacific during the Airborne Tropical Tropopause EXperiment (ATTREX). It
is argued that this effect may explain such observations. Finally, the impact
of the described interaction on TTL cirrus dehydration efficiency is
quantified using ATTREX observations of clouds and temperature lapse rate.


By offering relevant political information in an attractive and easy-to-digest way, and reaching millions of voters, Voting Advice Applications (VAAs) are expected to contribute to political knowledge and internal political efficacy. While previous studies provide correlational evidence or single-group experiments at best, the current study puts the alleged contribution of VAAs to a critical test. To study the causal effect of VAAs, we rely on a quasi-experiment during Dutch municipality elections and use matching techniques to exclude selection bias. We find evidence for an increase in internal efficacy after using VAAs, especially among lower educated voters. We do not find support for the expected gain in factual political knowledge. Our findings confirm the important role of VAAs in the political media landscape of contemporary elections, but do not suggest that VAAs bridge the digital divide.


Hi! Let me introduce myself. I'm Martin Lukes, Special Projects Director at A-B Global (UK). In your hands is a highly unique book, which pushes the envelope literature-wise. As you will see, it is a 120 per cent honest account of a year of my life - a phenomenal year of personal progress, corporate scandal and marital drama. It not only chronicles my promotion to one of the foremost executive positions globally, but is also a profound journey of personal learning, aided and abetted by my coach, Pandora. I am often asked why I want to share my deeply private philosophies with such a wide audience. I always say, it is because I am passionate about learning. I have grown from my own mistakes, both in the professional space and the personal one, and I believe that there are many key takeaways for you here too. "Who Moved My BlackBerry[trademark]?" is a creovative[trademark] work - to use a phrase of mine that has now entered the business lingo. I anticipate it will be the must-read of 2005. All my very bestest, Martin.


This paper proposes an efficient solution procedure for second–order functional difference equations, and outlines this procedure through investigating electromagnetic–wave diffraction by a canonical structure comprising an impedance wedge and an impedance sheet bisecting the exterior region of the wedge. Applying the Sommerfeld–Malyuzhinets technique to the original boundary–value problem yields a linear system of equations for the two coupled spectral functions. Eliminating one spectral function leads to a second-order difference equation for the other. The chief steps in this work consist of transforming the second–order equation into a simpler one by making use of a generalized Malyuzhinets function χφ(α), and in expressing the solution to the latter in an integral form with help of the so–called S–integrals. From this integral expression one immediately obtains a Fredholm equation of the second kind for points on the imaginary axis of the complex plane. Solving this integral equation by means of the well–known quadrature method enables us to calculate the sought–for spectral function inside the basic strip via an interpolation formula and outside it via an analytic extension. The second spectral function is obtained through its dependence upon the first. The uniform asymptotic solution, which is of particular interest in the geometrical theory of diffraction, follows, by evaluating the Sommerfeld integrals in the far field from the exact one. Several examples demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed procedure as well as typical behaviour of the far–field solutions for such a canonical problem of diffraction theory.


Rate coefficients for the reaction of chlorine atoms with 2,3-dimethyl-1,3-butadiene were measured over the temperature range of 269–393 K by using a relative rate experimental method with reference to isoprene and 1-pentene. Concentrations of the 2,3-dimethyl-1,3-butadiene and reference compounds were monitored by gas chromatography equipped with a Flame Ionization Detector (FID). The obtained rate coefficient for the reaction of 2,3-dimethyl-1,3-butadiene with Cl atoms at 298 K is k = (4.48 ± 0.46) × 10−10 cm3 per molecule per s, which is in good agreement with the reported rate coefficient at 298 K and 760 Torr. The obtained temperature dependent rate coefficient is k2,3-dimethyl-1,3-butadiene+Cl (269–363 K) = (4.59 ± 0.67) × 10−11 exp[(663.13 ± 45.8)/T] cm3 per molecule per s. To further understand the reaction mechanism of butadienes with Cl atoms, theoretical calculations were performed for the reactions of 2-methyl-1,3-butadiene (isoprene) and 2,3-dimethyl-1,3-butadiene with Cl atoms as a function of temperature using Conventional Transition State Theory (CTST) in combination with QCISD(T), CCSD(T) and MP2 levels of theory with different basis sets. The theoretically calculated temperature dependent rate coefficient is k2,3-dimethyl-1,3-butadiene+Cl (200–400 K) = (4.12 ± 0.38) × 10−12 exp[(1419.2 ± 26)/T] cm3 per molecule per s which is in excellent agreement with our experimentally measured rate coefficients. The rate coefficient was observed to be increasing with the substitution of hydrogen atoms by methyl groups.


Sclerotinia rot is a disease caused by the fungus Sclerotinina sclerotiorum which affects a wide range of crops and causes major yield and economic losses. Crop rotation is an important strategy for minimising losses. A dynamic programming (DP) model was developed to study the trade-offs between state of the land, severity of sclerotinia and financial impacts as a result of different cropping decisions. Results showed that rotation and treatment against sclerotinia was financially justified yet permitted intensive yet sustainable production of susceptible food crops in the long-run. Allocation of even a small proportion of cropping decisions to break crops coupled with treatments in the rotation mitigated long-term build-up of sclerotia in land. However in the short-run, high proportions and high frequencies of cropping decisions need to be either allocated to break crops or treated-susceptible crops in order to avoid the disease and to generate profit. Results showed that DP methodology provides a useful framework to explore the trade-offs between crop rotation and growing high value susceptible crops in the longand short-term in relation to plant diseases in arable agriculture that are at the heart of sustainable food production and land use.