Background
Sleep disorders are prevalent in children and are associated with significant comorbidity.

Objective
To assess the training, knowledge, attitudes and practices of Canadian health care providers (HCPs) regarding sleep disorders in children.

Method
A 42-item survey, designed to collect information on frequency of paediatric sleep disorders-related screening and diagnosis, implementation of evidence-based interventions and related knowledge base, was completed by HCPs.

Results
Ninety-seven HCPs completed the survey. One per cent obtained training in paediatric sleep during undergraduate training and 3% obtained such training during their residencies, yet 34.9% estimated that 25 to 50% of their patients suffered from sleep disorders. Most HCPs thought that sleep disorders significantly impacted children's health and daytime function. Most HCPs screened for developmental sleep issues, but not consistently for sleep disorders. Most recommended evidence-based behavioural interventions for behavioural sleep disorders, but some also reported behavioural interventions that were not first-line or recommended. Inadequate knowledge regarding melatonin use was evident. Most participants reported rarely/never ordering a sleep study for a child with suspected obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Most were familiar with surgical and weight loss management options for OSA; many were unfamiliar with benefits of continuous positive airway pressure. Participants' knowledge scores were highest on developmental and behavioural aspects of sleep, and lowest on sleep disorders.

Conclusions
HCPs exhibit significant gaps in their knowledge, screening, evaluation and treatment practices for paediatric sleep disorders. Training at the undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate levels, as well as Continuing Medical Education are needed to optimize recognition, treatment and follow-up of paediatric sleep disorders.


A simple, highly sensitive ion chromatographic method for the simultaneous determination of betaine, choline and carnitine in feed premixes is described. Premixes were extracted via ultrasonication in water for 20 min and extracts were analyzed by ion chromatography using an aqueous 3.0 mmol L−1 methane sulfonic acid solution containing 15% (v/v) acetonitrile as the eluent and an IonPac SCS1 column. The composition of the mobile phase was optimized for the efficient separation of the three main analytes from each other as well as from common inorganic cations and trimethylamine, which is an ingredient for the synthesis of the analytes. The recoveries of choline, carnitine and betaine spikes added to premixes were all greater than 90% with replicate relative standard deviations of less than 10%. The limits of detection of this method for these analytes in premixes were calculated to be 10, 6 and 20 mg kg−1, respectively.


What role do demands for constancy play in the operations of public agencies? Institutional constancy of agencies and firms is discussed as a concept and an increasingly important political requirement for the operation of hazardous systems in the United States. Situations that increase demands for it are outlined and a basis for analysis and improving constancy is proposed. Managing large organizational systems poses extraordinary challenges for public institutions when those systems promise substantial benefits but are also so technically or financially hazardous in their design that grievous harm could befall producers and citizens.(1) Not only are such institutions subject to the expected demands for effective performance, they are also pressed to operate at nearly failure-free levels--well beyond those expected for most organizations operating systems of lessor hazard.(2) When these systems are capable of large-scale and/or widely distributed harm that may not be detected for several generations, familiar processes of accountability may falter, and the public is rightly concerned that operating and regulating organizations be worthy of the public's trust.(3) Two characteristics of hazardous, large technical systems undermine more typical means of accountability: high demands for knowledge necessary to evaluate performance; and the long time period involved in determining success or failure.(4) In consequence, apprehensive publics seek assurances that these institutions will be uncompromising in the pursuit of the highest quality operations through the relevant lifetimes of the systems in question. This means that the quality of both external relations and internal operations should reassure interested communities and stakeholders that their views will be taken seriously and that organizational processes will result in immediate adjustment to potential error. When harmful effects may be visited upon future generations, the concern for assurances of continuity or institutional constancy takes on increasing importance. We refer mainly to public organizations although the argument applies with nearly as much force to the private sector in the United States, especially those firms responding to the strong economic incentives for short-term gains and deferral of costs. Indeed, institutional constancy--faithful, unswerving adherence to commitments and effective actions over many work generations--competes with institutional flexibility as an important public value in some policy domains. Certainly current leaders of some institutions are pressed to assure the public (especially opinion leaders) that, as a condition of winning approval and resources to initiate or continue programs, their agencies and corporate contractors can credibly be expected to keep agreements and commitments with potentially affected communities far into the future. The policy domains, for example, of radioactive waste management, the control of nuclear weapons, the management of water and biological resources, and the extraction of mineral resources present this situation in extreme forms. These hazards are likely to require active attention for hundreds of years. In some cases, mine closures are now designed assuming the need for "perpetual monitoring." And radioactive wastes may be highly dangerous for over 200,000 years, while some forms of dangerous chemicals never lose their capacity for harm. In such policy domains, there are often a number of quite contentious issues. Institutional constancy is likely to be among them. Assuring constancy would be a necessary but not a sufficient condition for arriving at commitments and agreements in the first instance.(5) Without such assurances, intense conflict is likely and the many legal means available to paralyze threatening programs could be employed. That is, the U.S. adversarial political culture and formal legal structure make it possible for groups with intensely held views to delay, often substantially modify, or halt programs they fear or with which they disagree (see gray box for examples). …


The aim of this study is to investigate the separation of astaxanthin from the cells of Phaffia rhodozyma using colloidal gas aphrons (CGA), which are surfactant stabilized microbubbles, in a flotation column. It was reported in previous studies that optimum recoveries are achieved at conditions that favor electrostatic interactions. Therefore, in this study, CGA generated from the cationic surfactant hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) were applied to suspensions of cells pretreated with NaOH. The different operation modes (batch or continuous) and the effect of volumetric ratio of CGA to feed, initial concentration of feed, operating height, and flow rate of CGA on the separation of astaxanthin were investigated. The volumetric ratio was found to have a significant effect on the separation of astaxanthin for both batch and continuous experiments. Additionally, the effect of homogenization of the cells on the purity of the recovered fractions was investigated, showing that the homogenization resulted in increased purity. Moreover, different concentrations of surfactant were used for the generation of CGA for the recovery of astaxanthin on batch mode; it was found that recoveries up to 98% could be achieved using CGA generated from a CTAB solution 0.8 mM, which is below the CTAB critical micellar concentration (CMC). These results offer important information for the scale‐up of the separation of astaxanthin from the cells of P. rhodozyma using CGA. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 2010


Public bikesharing—the shared use of a bicycle fleet by the public—is an innovative mobility strategy that has recently emerged in major North American cities. Bikesharing systems typically position bicycles throughout an urban environment, among a network of docking stations, for immediate access. This paper discusses the modal shift that results from individuals participating in four public bikesharing systems in North America. The authors conducted an online survey (n =10,661 total sample), between November 2011 and January 2012, with members of four major bikesharing organizations (located in Montreal, Toronto, the Twin Cities, and Washington D.C.) and collected information regarding travel-behavior changes, focusing on modal shift, as well as public bikesharing perceptions. The survey probed member perceptions about bikesharing and found that a majority in the surveyed cities felt that bikesharing was an enhancement to public transportation and improved transit connectivity. With respect to modal shift, the results suggest that bikesharing generally draws from all travel modes. Three of the four largest cities in the study exhibited declines in bus and rail usage as a result of bikesharing. For example, 50% of respondents in Montreal reported reducing rail use, while 44% and 48% reported similar shifts in Toronto and Washington D.C., respectively. However, within those same cities, 27% to 40% of respondents reported using public transit in conjunction with bikesharing to make trips previously completed by automobile. In the Twin Cities, the dynamic was different, as 15% of respondents reported increasing rail usage versus only 3% who noted a decrease in rail use. In all cities, bikesharing resulted in a considerable decline in personal driving and taxi use, suggesting that public bikesharing is reducing urban transportation emissions, while at the same time freeing capacity of bus and rail networks within large cities.


Background: Cluster-randomized experiments that assign intact groups such as schools or school districts to treatment conditions are increasingly common in educational research. Such experiments are inherently multilevel designs whose sensitivity (statistical power and precision of estimates) depends on the variance decomposition across levels. This variance decomposition is usually summarized by the intraclass correlation (ICC) structure and, if covariates are used, the effectiveness of the covariates in explaining variation at each level of the design. Objectives: This article provides a compilation of school- and district-level ICC values of academic achievement and related covariate effectiveness based on state longitudinal data systems. These values are designed to be used for planning group-randomized experiments in education. The use of these values to compute statistical power and plan two- and three-level group-randomized experiments is illustrated. Research Design: We fit several hierarchical linear models to state data by grade and subject to estimate ICCs and covariate effectiveness. The total sample size is over 4.8 million students. We then compare our average of state estimates with the national work by Hedges and Hedberg.


BACKGROUND
Cardiac aging alters many of the acute responses to exercise stress, but the extent to which chronic exercise (ie, training) can alter or improve the effects of aging in humans is largely unknown.

METHODS AND RESULTS
Cardiovascular responses to graded supine exercise stress (beginning at 200 kpm and increasing by 200 kpm every 3 minutes till exhaustion) were assessed using radionuclide ventriculography in 13 older (age, 60 to 82 years) and 11 young (age, 24 to 32 years) rigorously screened healthy men before and after 6 months of endurance training. Repeated-measures ANOVA was used to test significance. During exercise, the old group had a lesser increase in heart rate (+105% old versus +166% young), a greater increase in mean blood pressure (+35% old versus +22% young), lesser increases in ejection fraction (+3 ejection fraction units old versus +11 units young) and peak ejection rate (+62% old versus +119% young), a greater increase in end-diastolic volume index (+8% old versus -10% young), a lesser fall in end-systolic volume index (-0% old versus -32% young), and a lesser increase in cardiac index (+135% old versus +189% young) (all P < .01 young/old versus exercise stage). Stroke volume index response to exercise was not different with aging (+14% old versus +6% young, P = NS). Exercise training increased maximal oxygen intake by 21% in the older group (28.9 +/- 4.6 to 35.1 +/- 3.8 mL.kg-1.min-1, P < .001) and by 17% in the young (44.5 +/- 5.1 to 52.1 +/- 6.3 mL.kg-1.min-1, P < .001) and increased peak workload by 24% in the old and 28% in the young. Exercise training had no differential effects on old versus young men. Among all subjects, training significantly reduced the resting heart rate by 12% (-8 beats per minute) and increased resting end-diastolic volume index by 13% (+9 mL/M2) and resting stroke volume index by 18% (+7 mL/M2) (all P < .01). At peak exercise, cardiac index increased by 16% (+1.07 L.M-2.min-1) compared with before training, which was the result of an increase in stroke volume of 18% (+7 mL/M2) (P < .001); peak heart rate was unchanged. The increase in stroke volume index at peak exercise was the result of both a 12% increase in end-diastolic volume index (+8 mL/M2) (P < .01) and an increase in ejection fraction (+3 ejection fraction units) (P < .05) at peak exercise. The increased ejection fraction at peak exercise occurred despite a 9% increase in systolic blood pressure (+18 mm Hg) (P < .01), suggesting an increase in contractility. Thus, both the young and old increased peak exercise cardiac output by use of the Frank-Starling mechanism (ie, cardiac dilatation) as well as an increase in ejection fraction.

CONCLUSIONS
We conclude that there is an age-associated decline in heart rate, ejection fraction, and cardiac output responses to supine exercise in healthy men. Although the stroke volume responses of the young and old are similar, the old tend to augment stroke volume during exercise more through cardiac dilatation, with an increase in end-diastolic volume (+8%) but without much change in ejection fraction (+3 ejection fraction units), whereas the young rely more on an increase in the ejection fraction (+11 ejection fraction units) with no cardiac dilatation (-10%). Despite the significant cardiovascular changes that occur in the response to a single bout of exercise with aging, adaptations to chronic exercise training were not different with aging and included improvements in maximal workload and increases in ejection fraction, stroke volume index, and cardiac index at peak exercise.


There is a growing need for engineering designers to engage in creative activities that result in innovative products and technologies for the benefit of society. However, from an engineering perspective, issues of 'life quality' are currently heavily under-prioritized, particularly with regard to people with disabilities. This paper argues that both needs and solutions are now part of the designer's responsibility, and that it is crucial to make a qualitative assessment of both the potential market impact and the 'quality of life' improvements afforded by innovations. Design for Wellbeing offers a perspective on life quality that goes beyond the traditional scope of assistive technology in that it aims to help people make a transformation from an actual state of being to a desired state of being – regardless of ability level.


In photogrammetry, sensor modelling with 3D point estimation is a fundamental topic of research. Perspective frame cameras offer the mathematical basis for close range modelling approaches. The norm is to employ robust bundle adjustments for simultaneous parameter estimation and 3D object measurement. In 2D to 3D modelling strategies image resolution, scale, sampling and geometric distortion are prior factors. Non-conventional image geometries that implement uncalibrated cameras are established in computer vision approaches; these aim for fast solutions at the expense of precision. The projective camera is defined in homogeneous terms and linear algorithms are employed. An attractive sensor model disembodied from projective distortions is the affine. Affine modelling has been studied in the contexts of geometry recovery, feature detection and texturing in vision, however multi-view approaches for precise object measurement are not yet widely available.
This project investigates affine multi-view modelling from a photogrammetric standpoint. A new affine bundle adjustment system has been developed for point-based data observed in close range image networks. The system allows calibration, orientation and 3D point estimation. It is processed as a least squares solution with high redundancy providing statistical analysis. Starting values are recovered from a combination of implicit perspective and explicit affine approaches. System development focuses on retrieval of orientation parameters, 3D point coordinates and internal calibration with definition of system datum, sensor scale and radial lens distortion. Algorithm development is supported with method description by simulation. Initialization and implementation are evaluated with the statistical indicators, algorithm convergence and correlation of parameters. Object space is assessed with evaluation of the 3D point correlation coefficients and error ellipsoids. Sensor scale is checked with comparison of camera systems utilizing quality and accuracy metrics. For independent method evaluation, testing is implemented over a perspective bundle adjustment tool with similar indicators. Test datasets are initialized from precise reference image networks. Real affine image networks are acquired with an optical system (~1M pixel CCD cameras with 0.16x telecentric lens). Analysis of tests ascertains that the affine method results in an RMS image misclosure at a sub-pixel level and precisions of a few tenths of microns in object space.


Variation across dog breeds presents a unique opportunity for investigating the evolution and biological basis of complex behavioral traits. We integrated behavioral data from more than 17,000 dogs from 101 breeds with breed-averaged genotypic data (N = 5,697 dogs) from over 100,000 loci in the dog genome. Across 14 traits, we found that breed differences in behavior are highly heritable, and that clustering of breeds based on behavior accurately recapitulates genetic relationships. We identify 131 single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with breed differences in behavior, which are found in genes that are highly expressed in the brain and enriched for neurobiological functions and developmental processes. Our results provide insight into the heritability and genetic architecture of complex behavioral traits, and suggest that dogs provide a powerful model for these questions.


This paper describes the feasibility, construction, testing, and storage zone development of the Boynton Beach Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) well, the first successful ASR project in the Floridan Aquifer System of South Florida. ASR is the underground storage of water through a well into a suitable aquifer when excess supplies are available, and recovery from the same well during the dry season to meet seasonal, peak system, or emergency demands. ASR applications with treated drinking water require no additional treatment except basic disinfection during the recovery phase. This technology provides enormous storage potential at a cost savings that is usually over 50 percent when compared to that of surface storage reservoirs, and provides for greater flexibility. It is anticipated that treated water ASR wells completed in the upper Floridan Aquifer System of South Florida may store up to approximately 100 to 200 million gallons (MG) of water. Cycle testing commenced immediately after completion of construction. During full-scale development, 60 MG were stored and recovered until chloride concentrations reached 250 milligrams per liter (mg/L). The recovery efficiency of the first five cycles has increased significantly with development of the storage zone.


A Magnetorheological damper is a commonly used component in semi-active suspensions that achieves a high force capacity and better performance than a passive system, without the added expense and power draw of a fully active system, all while maintaining failsafe performance. To fully exploit the capabilities of an MR Damper, a high fidelity controller is required that is simple and easy to implement, yet does not compromise the accuracy or precision needed in many high-performance applications. There is a growing need for this level of operation, and this proposed work addresses these requirements by creating an empirically derived invertible model that enables the development of more accurate command signals by capturing the effect of temperature on a MR Damper's performance capabilities. Furthermore, this solution is specifically tailored for real-time application and does not require force feedback. Thus it requires low computation power and minimizes end-user cost by eliminating the need for additional high cost sensors such as load cells. A notable observation that resulted from the development of this proposed model was the difference in behavior between on and off states. Additionally a unique behavior was recognized with respect to the transition between high speed and low speed damping. For validation, the proposed model was compared against experimental data as well as an industry standard Spencer model; it produced excellent results in both cases with minimal error.


Issue 5 focuses on the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), its adherence in Africa and the potential benefits that Africa can derive from the work of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO). It has been compiled as a result of research undertaken since 2007 by the Norwegian-funded ISS' "Africa's Development and the Threat of Weapons of Mass Destruction Project". This project aims to identify and strengthen Africa's role in these international efforts in the context of the continent's developmental imperatives.


In order to test the persistency of the Swedish complementary durational pattern of VCsequences in stressed syllables, a number of native Swedish speakers were recorded when pronouncing words in English and German. The words were of a kind that were expected to be perceived by Swedes as having "short vowel". Swedish speakers pronounced the test words with significantly longer post-vocalic stop consonant /k/ and /t/, than did native English and German speakers, but not when the test word contained a post-vocalic nasal /m/. This asymmetry was not found when native Swedish speakers pronounced Swedish words with the same segments in the VCsequence.


The author's goal in this article is to estimate the causal effect of unionization on institutional decision-making, using a national survey of presidents and faculty senate leaders to measure the level of shared governance at 341 public universities in 15 different areas. To handle the endogeneity of faculty unionization, an index of state employee collective bargaining rights is used as an instrument for unionization. Findings indicate that unionization greatly increases faculty influence over institutional decision-making, both in compensation and in areas outside of compensation.


Genome sequencing has revealed thousands of novel genes, placing renewed emphasis on chemical approaches for controlling gene expression. Antisense oligomers designed directly from the information generated by sequencing are one option for achieving this control. Here we explore the rules governing the inhibition of gene expression by peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) inside cells. PNAs are a DNA/RNA mimic in which the phosphate deoxyribose backbone has been replaced by uncharged linkages. Binding to complementary sequences is not hindered by electrostatic repulsion and is characterized by high rates of association and elevated affinities. Here we test the hypothesis that the favorable properties of PNAs offer advantages for recognition of mRNA and antisense inhibition of gene expression in vivo. We have targeted 27 PNAs to 18 different sites throughout the 5'-untranslated region (5'-UTR), start site, and coding regions of luciferase mRNA. PNAs were introduced into living cells in culture as PNA-DNA-lipid complexes, providing a convenient high throughput method for cellular delivery. We find that PNAs targeted to the terminus of the 5'-UTR are potent and sequence-specific antisense agents. PNAs fifteen to eighteen bases in length were optimal inhibitors. The introduction of one or two mismatches abolished inhibition, and complementary PNAs targeted to the sense strand were also inactive. In striking contrast to effective inhibition by PNAs directed to the terminal region, PNAs complementary to other sites within the 5'-UTR do not inhibit gene expression. We also observe no inhibition by PNAs complementary to the start site or rest of the coding region, nor do we detect inhibition by PNAs that are highly C/G rich and possess extremely high affinities for their target sequences. Our results suggest that PNAs can block binding of the translation machinery but are less able to block the progress of the ribosome along mRNA. The high specificity of antisense inhibition by PNAs emphasizes both the promise and the challenges for PNAs as antisense agents and provides general guidelines for using PNAs to probe the molecular recognition of biological targets inside cells.


Childhood circumstances and behaviours have been shown to have important persistent effects in later life. One aspect of childhood that has changed dramatically in the past decade, and is causing concern among policy makers and other bodies responsible for safeguarding children, is the advent of social media, or online social networking. This research explores the effect of children's digital social networking on their subjective wellbeing. We use a large representative sample of 10-15 year olds over the period 2010 to 2014 from the UK Household Longitudinal Study, and estimate the effect of time spent chatting on social websites on a number of outcomes which reflect how these children feel about different aspects of their life, specifically: school work; appearance; family; friends; school attended; and life as a whole. We deal with the potential endogeneity of social networking via an instrumental variables approach using information on broadband speeds and mobile phone signal strength published by Ofcom. Our results suggest that spending more time on social networks reduces the satisfaction that children feel with all aspects of their lives, except for their friendships; and that girls suffer more adverse effects than boys. As well as addressing policy makers' concerns about the effects of digital technology on children, this work also contributes to wider debates about the socioeconomic consequences of the internet and digital technologies more generally, a debate which to date has largely been based on evidence from outside of the UK.


Abstract. Convective clouds are common and play a major role in Earth's water cycle and energy balance; they may even develop into storms and cause severe
rainfall events. To understand the convective cloud development process, this study investigates the impact of aerosols on convective clouds by
considering the influence of both topography and diurnal variation in radiation. By combining texture analysis, clustering, and thresholding methods,
we identify all convective clouds in two warm seasons (May–September, 2016/17) in eastern China based on Himawari-8 Level 1 data. Having large
diurnally resolved cloud data together with surface meteorological and environmental measurements, we investigate convective cloud properties and
their variation, stratified by elevation and diurnal change. We then analyze the potential impact of aerosol on convective clouds under different
meteorological conditions and topographies. In general, convective clouds tend to occur preferentially under polluted conditions in the morning,
which reverses in the afternoon. Convective cloud fraction first increases then decreases with aerosol loading, which may contribute to this
phenomenon. Topography and diurnal meteorological variations may affect the strength of aerosol microphysical and radiative effects. Updraft is
always stronger along the windward slopes of mountains and plateaus, especially in northern China. The prevailing southerly wind near the foothills
of mountains and plateaus is likely to contribute to this windward strengthening of updraft and to bring more pollutant into the mountains, thereby
strengthening the microphysical effect, invigorating convective clouds. By comparison, over plain, aerosols decrease surface heating and suppress
convection by blocking solar radiation reaching the surface.


We present a vector theory of four-wave mixing in optical fibers and use it to discuss the effect of polarization-mode dispersion (PMD) on the performance of parametric amplifiers and wavelength converters. We show that PMD distorts the gain spectrum and makes it less uniform than that expected in the absence of residual birefringence. PMD also induces large fluctuations in the amplified or wavelength-converted signal.


In a 1971 paper, Suzuki and Kiyose give a model for light water moderated atomic reactor refueling optimization. Specifically, they present a linear programming formulation for minimizing the number of fresh fuel assemblies required by a reactor over a finite planning horizon subject to power generation and safety requirements and reactor design specifications. The optimal refueling policies found by Suzuki and Kiyose were useful in reducing the fresh fuel required, but two difficulties were encountered. First, the optimal linear programming solutions included small fractional numbers of fresh fuel assemblies which were difficult to round off. The second difficulty was that their formulation had approximately 165H constraints where H is the length of the planning horizon. The problems solved had H=10, but it was desired to analyze the problem for longer planning horizons of 20 to 30 stages without solving prohibitively large mathematical programming problems.

In this paper, we give a reformulation of the reactor refueling optimization problem that consists of approximately 15H constraints and a large number of columns. This reformulation is required because the state-of-the-art of integer programming does not usually permit the solution of integer programs with thousands or even many hundreds of constraints. Moreover, the reformulation should permit the linear programming approximation to be more easily solved, at least approximately. Finally, the reformulation identifies and analyzes explicitly the fundamental activity in refueling optimization; namely, the introduction, degradation and removal of fuel assemblies. This should make it easier to modify the model to take into account additional features of the problem such as a cost for moving an assembly from one location to another.


From its founding in 1758, Pittsburgh has experienced several epic transformations. It began its existence as a fortress, on a site originally selected by George Washington. A hundred years later, and well into our own time, no other American city was as intensively industrialized, only to be later consigned to 'rustbelt' status. Remade as a thriving twenty-first-century city and an international center for science, medicine, biotechnology, and financial services, Pittsburgh is now routinely acclaimed as one of the most promising and livable of America's cities. Franklin Toker shows us why. Toker highlights this remarkable story of urban reinvention by focusing on what makes Pittsburgh so resilient and appealing - its strong neighborhoods and their surprisingly rich architectural history. The many unique, lively urban communities that make up Pittsburgh are a treasure trove of every imaginable style of structure, from Victorian to Bauhaus, Gothic to Art Deco, and from Industrial to Green. These ordinary homes expressed the aspirations of people who came from around the world to settle in Pittsburgh, while they built the city itself into an economic powerhouse. With the wealth generated by this everyday work, local captains of industry could build their own monumental additions to Pittsburgh's urban landscape, including two of America's greatest buildings: H. H. Richardson's Allegheny Courthouse and Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater. With accessible prose, Toker examines Pittsburgh in its historical context (from Indian settlement to postmodern city), in its regional setting (from the playgrounds of the Laurel Highlands to the hard-working mill towns dotting the landscape), and from the street level (leading the reader on a personal tour through every neighborhood). Based on his 1986 classic, "Pittsburgh: An Urban Portrait", but with a completely revised text and lavishly illustrated with all new photos and maps, "Pittsburgh: A New Portrait" reveals the true colors of a truly great American city.


Effective management of onsite wastewater treatment systems (OWTS) is important in preventing contamination of ecologically sensitive receiving environments, such as surface water and groundwater used for human consumption or contact. Householders play a key role in OWTS management, therefore inadequate householder knowledge of system function, inability to recognise signs of system failures and lack of understanding of maintenance requirements can increase the risk of system failure. A householder survey and community consultation process have been undertaken in conjunction with a biophysical effluent sampling program to reveal community understanding of OWTS, opinions on preferred management strategies, institutional arrangements and possible reactions to future financial costs to householders. Opinions from workshop participants and other stakeholders suggested their community wanted knowledge regarding OWTS functioning and maintenance, in particular, information on the use of suitable household chemicals to maintain treatment performance and continued research into contamination of groundwater sources by wastewater systems to better inform wastewater management strategies. Community participants were divided on the preferred administration and cost of maintenance, with some wanting to retain responsibility for maintenance arrangements by contracting specialised personnel and others suggesting local authorities should take responsibility.


This thesis details an investigation into the factors that could be restricting the performance of tin sulfide thus far. It is shown that there is confusion in the literature with respect to the assignment of different tin sulfide phases, and that the presence of these phases cannot easily be discerned with routine diffraction methods. In order to better understand the behaviour of tin sulfide in devices, it is important to isolate these materials as separate components and to consider the distinct properties of each. %Indeed, even a fundamental property such as the colour of SnS is still subject to conflicting reports. Herein, the targeted synthesis of SnS, SnS2 and Sn2S3 by chemical vapour transport is used to produce phase-pure single crystals, which are characterised in terms of structural, optical and electrical properties. These are compared directly with results from modern simulation methods as well as the work of others to explore fully the possible origins of performance losses. It is found that the work function of SnS is significantly lower than those of alternate successful photovoltaic materials, which means that novel device architectures are necessary in order to unlock the full potential of this promising photo-absorber. Concerns are also raised regarding the stability of the tin monosulfide phase with respect to degradation and defect formation over time, processes that undoubtedly affect device performance and lifetimes if sufficient safeguards are not put in place to suppress them. Further results of this 3 year research project also provide a broader platform for achieving sustainable light harvesting devices from the abundant and cheap elements, tin and sulfur.


Part I of this Article will provide a brief background to the fight against terrorism as seen from an inter-American legal and institutional standpoint. Part II will discuss the more significant details of the Convention and the negotiations in the Permanent Council's Working Group that produced it. In II(A), the authors review the conflicting views among delegates about whether the OAS should have been negotiating a "comprehensive" anti-terrorism treaty (complete with a legal definition of terrorist acts) or follow the suggestion of the United States and adopt a less ambitious treaty providing some "added value" (by incorporating by reference the law-making of previous United Nations ("U.N.") terrorism treaties). In II(B), the authors discuss treaty provisions dedicated to cooperation among hemispheric governments. In II(C), the Article explains treaty provisions on denying terrorists the benefits of asylum, refugee status, and the political offense exception in extradition law. In II(D), the treaty's role as a supplement to other extradition treaties is noted. In II(E), the Article discusses what the treaty says about the money side of terrorism– what the hemisphere will do about tracking money, money laundering, and asset forfeiture. In II(F), the controversy over whether to mention human rights in the Convention is explained. In II(G), the authors discuss treaty provisions on permitting the transfer of prisoners among different countries in the Americas. In the Conclusion, the authors note that the American republics have taken a significant step forward in the codification of international law by negotiating a practical multilateral instrument. LATIN AMERICA: VIEWS ON CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN THE REGION PREVENTING, PUNISHING, AND ELIMINATING TERRORISM IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE: A POST-9/ll INTER-AMERICAN TREATY Enrique Lagos* & Timothy D. Rudy**


This study was undertaken to redress the scant knowledge regarding the chemistry and mode of action of pregnancy-related traditional medicines, or isihlambezo (Zulu), which are used by 60 to 80% of women in South Africa. The three selected plants are among the six most frequently cited species from the approximately 90 used by traditional healers. The purpose of the study was to identify components which could cause uterine contractions, those with nutritional value for the foetus and mother, and those with any toxic effects. Plant root extracts were purified via silica gel column chromatography and bioassays were carried out on the fractions, using isolated rat uterine tissue. Purified compounds were identified via spectral techniques, and some were characterised by comparison to authentic standards using HPLC, and others by matching their GC-MS spectra to library standards. Thirty-eight compounds were identified in total, the majority of these being novel to the species concerned. Those isolated from Combretum kraussii were 1 sitosterol, 2 combretastatin, 3 3',4-tri-O-methylellagic acid, 4 combretastatin B-1, 5 combretastatin A-1, 6 3,3'-di-O-ellagic acid lactone, 7a ellagic acid lactone, 7b ellagic acid, 8 and 9 a mixture of combretastatin B-1 and A-1 glucosides, 10 and 11 partly characterised glucosides of ellagic acid. Those isolated from Gunnera perpensa were 12 3',4-tri-O-methylellagic acid, 13 ellagic acid lactone, 141,1 '-biphenyl-4,4'-diacetic acid, 15 p-hydroxybenzaldehyde, 16 Z-methyl lespedezate, 17 and 18 part~y characterized higher glucosides of Z-methyllespedezate. Those isolated from Rhoicissus tridentata were 19 ()-epigallocatechin, 20 (+)-gallocatechin, 21 procyanidin B3, 22procyanidin B4, 23 (+)catechin hydrate, 24 (+)-mollisacacidin, 25 (+)-epicatechin, 26 fisetinidol-(4a-8) catechin, 27 (-)-fisetinidol, 28 fisetinidol-(4f3-8)catechin, 29 gallic acid, 30 epicatechin-3-0-gallate, 31 partly characterized hydrogel of glucose, 32 sitosterol, 33 sitosterolin, 34 y-sitosterol, 35 oleanolic acid, 36 lupen-3~one, 37 20-epi-ljl-taraxastananol and 38 triacontanol. The compounds with the greatest in vitro uteroactivity were predominantly proanthocyanidins or phenolic glucosides. It is proposed that effects of phenolic glucosides could be due to the interaction of the sugar moiety as well as the phenolic mOiety with the receptor site in muscle tissue. The corresponding phenolic aglycones v isolated were only moderately uterotonic, or unreactive by comparison. Non-polar compounds such as sitosterol and sitosterolin showed minimal enhancement of the uterine response at low concentrations, and inhibition at higher concentrations. Aqueous root extracts of the plants were all found to be non-toxic according to cell-viability tests using monkey vero cells and human fibroblasts. Extracts are therefore considered safe for human consumption, although it is recommended that Rhoicissus tridentata be used with caution because it showed the lowest cell viability of the three species, and uterine hyperstimulation has been attributed to this species, as well as eNS depression and respiratory arrest. Ions which could be nutritionally beneficial in pregnancy, calcium, iron, and phospate, were present in low in aqueous extracts. Levels of calcium and potassium ions were considered to be too low to directly stimulate uterine muscle. Proanthocyanidins, combretastatins, ellagic acid derivatives and phytosterols, with health-promoting properties, were also identified.


Anaerobic wastewater treatment has been focused on its eco-friendly nature in terms of the improved energy conservation and reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. However, the anaerobic process discharges unrecovered methane as dissolved methane. In this study, to prevent the emission of dissolved methane from up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactors used to treat sewage and to recover it as useful gas, we employed a two-stage down-flow hanging sponge (DHS) reactor as a post-treatment of the UASB reactor. The closed DHS reactor in the first stage was intended for the recovery of dissolved methane from the UASB reactor effluent; the reactor could successfully recover an average of 76.8% of the influent dissolved methane as useful gas (containing methane over 30%) with hydraulic retention time of 2 h. During the experimental period, it was possible to maintain the recovered methane concentrations greater than 30% by adjusting the air supply rate. The remaining dissolved methane after the first stage was treated by the next step. The second closed DHS reactor was operated for oxidation of the residual methane and polishing of the remaining organic carbons. The reactor had a high performance and the influent dissolved methane was mostly eliminated to approximately 0.01 mgCOD L(-1). The dissolved methane from the UASB reactor was completely eliminated--by more than 99%--by the post-treatment after the two-stage closed DHS system.


The aim of this paper is to prove some common fixed point theorems in (GV)-fuzzy metric spaces.While proving our results, we employed the idea of compatibility due to Jungck [14] together with subsequentially continuity due to Bouhadjera and Godet-Thobie [4] respectively (also alternately reciprocal continuity due to Pant [28] together with subcompatibility due to Bouhadjera and Godet-Thobie [4] as in Imdad et al. [12] wherein conditions on completeness of the underlying space (or subspaces) together with conditions on continuity in respect of any one of the involved maps are relaxed. Our results substantially generalize and improve a multitude of relevant common fixed point theorems of the existing literature in metric as well as fuzzy metric spaces which include some relevant results due to Imdad et al.[10], Mihet [18], Mishra [19], Singh [28] and several others.


Using a method based on scanning capacitance spectroscopy, local measurements of the electron mean free path (l) and mobility (μ) have been carried out on single layers of graphene (SLG) mechanically exfoliated from highly oriented pyrolytic graphite and deposited on SiO2/Si. Lateral inhomogeneity of l and μ was found both on pristine and ion irradiated SLG with different C ion fluences (from 1013 to 1014 cm−2), with an increasing spread in the distribution of l and μ for larger fluences. Before irradiation, the spread was explained by the inhomogeneous distribution of charged impurities on SLG surface and/or at the interface with SiO2. After irradiation, lattice vacancies cause a local reduction of μ in the damaged regions.


Faced with massive data, is it possible to trade off (statistical) risk, and (computational) space and time? This challenge lies at the heart of large-scale machine learning. Using k-means clustering as a prototypical unsupervised learning problem, we show how we can strategically summarize the data (control space) in order to trade off risk and time when data is generated by a probabilistic model. Our summarization is based on coreset constructions from computational geometry. We also develop an algorithm, TRAM, to navigate the space/time/data/risk tradeoff in practice. In particular, we show that for a fixed risk (or data size), as the data size increases (resp. risk increases) the running time of TRAM decreases. Our extensive experiments on real data sets demonstrate the existence and practical utility of such tradeoffs, not only for k-means but also for Gaussian Mixture Models.


The glory of the Civil War lies firmly in the valor of the soldiers on both sides who fought and died for liberty as they saw it. Partially in response to their record, the literature on the War is extraordinarily voluminous. One group whose story has yet to be fully told is the African-Americans who fought for the Union. Men who served in the "United States Colored Corps" regiments did not experience the same conditions as other troops. Among a galaxy of differences, they suffered from disease at a considerably higher rate than white troops who served in the Union Army. There were, however, exceptions in reference to particular disorders and regions. The causes of the disparities between these two groups can be explained by their different environmental experiences, and included the locations where they served, the type of duty to which they were assigned, their medical experiences from the antebellum era, and the type of clinical treatment they received from the Union medical staff.(1) This disparity has only been discussed at length in two works: Bell Irvin Wiley's The Life Of Billy Yank: The Common Soldier Of The Union, and Ira Berlin's Freedom: A Documentary History Of Emancipation 1861-1867; Series II: The Black Military Experience. Wiley's work is interesting, but limited; African-Americans appear only to provide context for the descriptions of white soldiers. Berlin's work, while much more effective, makes little attempt at specificity in regard to disease and region. All the different ingredients that caused the disparity between whites and blacks have yet to be addressed in a comprehensive manner. Consequently a full treatment of the most important aspects of this topic from a comparative viewpoint will be attempted as the subject of this study.(2) In this most deadly of American wars Union fatalities from all causes exceeded 300,000 men. Of these, the distribution for white troops was 90,638 killed in battle or as a result of wounds, and 171,806 from disease. For black troops 3,331 were killed in battle or as a result of wounds, and 29,963 from disease respectively. In simple terms, white troops were twice as likely to die for reasons of ill-health as in battle, while black troops were almost ten times as likely to do so.(3) The large amount of illness reported suggests that during the first two years of the war the average Union soldier (almost all of whom were white until late 1863) must have been ill much of the year. Indeed Union troops appear to have served in conditions of perpetual epidemic. Since the sick rate for black troops did not decrease (until March 1866), to less than that for white troops, it seems clear that the normal state of health within the "United States Colored Corps" was marginal at best.(4) For Union troops as a whole the medical records were organized into Atlantic, Central, and Pacific regions, and segregated by race. The Atlantic zone extended from the East coast including Florida to the crest of the Appalachian mountain range. The Central zone started at the Appalachians and included all the territory up to the crest of the Rocky mountains. The Pacific zone included everything from the Rockies to the West coast, where the black presence was so small that no records were tabulated for them in that area. Of the three, by far the greatest mortality for all causes other than battle occurred in the Central region.(5) The Mississippi river valley experienced an extraordinary number of epidemics both in the antebellum period and after which caused it to be the area of the nation with the greatest risk of ill-health from disease. For example, yellow fever alone, beginning with its first large scale outbreak in New Orleans in 1796, reappeared consistently until well into the twentieth century. In 1823, Natchez, which was located well up the river from the Crescent City suffered a very severe epidemic. As a result of this and similar incidents, Natchez would later establish one of the first quarantines on the river. …


IZA DP No. 14330 APRIL 2021 The Influence of Value-Chain Governance on Innovation Performance: A Study of Italian Suppliers This paper explores how value-chain governance affects the innovation performance of suppliers of intermediate products. We take advantage of a unique dataset of Italian firms to identify governance regimes along suppliers' technological capabilities and the level of explicit coordination in the value chain. Our results indicate that 'modular' value-chain governance is more conducive to innovation for suppliers, especially when these firms have medium capability levels. Conversely, market-based governance modes appear to strongly reduce the innovativeness of suppliers with low capability. These patterns are also reflected in export performances and sales of innovative products. Our results go partially against other findings in the GVC literature, whereby relational value chains are seen to provide the most favorable environment to learn and innovate. Interestingly, the highest levels of technological capabilities consistently reduce the correlation between supplying intermediates and innovation performance, which indicates that technology-gap is an important mediator of learning within value chains. JEL Classification: F14, O30


From the 1970s to the early 1990s, "struggle poetry" served to define elements of the struggle against apartheid. In contrast to struggle literature, which was open and clearly focussed, pro-apartheid literature was not produced in abundance and, when it appeared, was shrouded in social discourse, including historical analysis, terminology, the articulation of specific viewpoints, humour and a sense of duty. One of the longest-lasting windows into apartheid military propaganda was Peter Badcock's Images of war (1981), a compilation of pencil sketches and short poetic works that used simple blank verse and images of racial diversity, romance and implied tradition. This article presents a discourse analysis of the above-mentioned publication, using both Foucault-infused thoughts and a critical discourse analysis methodology developed by Fairclough. It provides insight into how the apparatus of a state can gain popular support for sociologically unacceptable practices. Understanding the latter contributes to an understanding of power relations and ideological processes that underlie text and rhetoric.


The Byzantine civil wars have been the subject of studies which aimed to analyze and interpret the political and military dimension of the phenomenon of armed conflicts inside the Byzantine society. The ideological aspect of civil war in Byzantium has received less attention. During my study on Byzantine war ideology, I noticed that there are some cases of Byzantine authors of the period after the 9 th century that present Byzantine war against another Christian people as a civil one. Beginning with a short overview of the Byzantines' understanding of the term emphylios polemos which modern researchers interpret usually with the modern term civil war, this study will concentrate on the ideological and political similarities or differences between Byzantine civil war and Byzantine war against Christian enemies.


Background Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), primarily up-regulated by transforming growth factor (TGF)-β, is essential for development of fibrosis. Histone deacetylases (HDACs) have been shown to modulate gene expression and fibrogenesis in various tissues. However, the implications of HDAC in PAI-1 expression and pleural fibrosis remain unclear. We examined the effects of m-carboxycinnamic acid bis-hydroxamide (CBHA), a hybrid-polar HDAC inhibitor, on PAI-1 expression in a human pleural mesothelial cell line (MeT-5A). Methods MeT-5A cells were treated with TGF-β1 (10 ng/ml) in the presence or absence of CBHA (0.2–1 μM). The expression and stability of PAI-1 mRNA and protein, PAI-1 promoter activity, activation of Smad signaling, and protein–protein interactions of Smads with transcriptional cofactors Sp1 and coactivator p300 were assayed using the methods of Western blotting, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, transient transfection and luciferase activity assay, immunoflurescence staining and immunoprecipitation, respectively. Results CBHA significantly inhibited TGF-β1-induced PAI-1 mRNA and protein expression, and attenuated PAI-1 promoter activity in MeT-5A cells. CBHA abrogated TGF-β1-induced Smad4 nuclear translocation, but not Smad2/3 activation. Furthermore, the TGF-β1-induced association of Smad4 with p300, but not with Sp1, was disrupted by CBHA. Alternatively, CBHA accelerated PAI-1 mRNA degradation, possibly through suppression of the mRNA stabilizing protein nucleolin (Abstract P66 Figure 1).Abstract P66 Figure 1 Conclusion Our data suggests that inhibition of HDAC activity by CBHA may attenuate TGF-β1-induced PAI-1 expression in human pleural mesothelial cells through modulation of cellular signaling at multiple levels. HDAC inhibitors may be employed as potential therapeutic agents for pleural fibrosis.


The most significant practical challenge for face recognition is perhaps variability in lighting intensity. In this paper, we developed a face recognition which is insensitive to large variation in illumination. Normalization including two steps, first we used Histogram truncation as a preprocessing step and then we implemented Homomorphic filter. The main idea is that, achieving illumination invariance causes to simplify feature extraction module and increases recognition rate. Then we utilized Fuzzy Linear Discriminant Analysis (FLDA) in feature extraction stage which showed a good discriminating ability compared to other methods while classification is performed using three classification methods : Nearest Neighbour classifier , Support Vector Machines (SVM) and Feedforward Neural Network(FFNN).The experiments were performed on the ORL (Olivetti Research Laboratory) and Yale face image databases and the results show the present method with SVM classifier outweighs other techniques applied on the same database and reported in literature.


In 2016, the Indian Parliament passed the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). The Government has chosen to notify only the part on corporate insolvency. It is expected that the part on personal insolvency will be notified for individuals with business debt and personal guarantors. In this context, this paper describes the Indian credit market and presents an argument for the need for personal insolvency law. It provides a brief overview of the provisions on personal insolvency in the IBC. It makes suggestions on questions of policy that need to be addressed before the law can be meaningfully implemented as the success of the IBC depends on the design of the subordinate legislation as well as the evolution of the institutional infrastructure.


Objectives Ovarian cancer (OC) survivors experience many disease and treatment adverse effects. However, the impact of OC and its treatment on objective activity behaviors and physiological status have not been examined. The purpose of this study was to compare objectively measured activity behaviors and physiological characteristics of advanced-stage OC survivors to age-matched controls. Methods Twenty stage III–IV OC survivors and 20 controls completed assessments of activity behaviors (7-day accelerometry), physical function (400-meter walk as indicator of cardiorespiratory fitness, repeated chair rise, 6-meter walking tests), muscle strength (1-repetition maximum and handgrip), body composition (dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry), and musculoskeletal morphology (peripheral quantitative computed tomography). Results Compared with controls, OC survivors spent more time/day in prolonged sedentary bouts (P = 0.039, r = 0.32), had lower cardiorespiratory fitness (P = 0.041, r = 0.33) and upper body strength (P = 0.023, r = 0.37), had higher areal bone mineral content (P = 0.047, r = 0.33) and volumetric trabecular density (P = 0.048, r = 0.31), but were not different in other measures of body composition nor in muscle morphology (P > 0.050). Only 20% (n = 4) of OC survivors accrued 150 minutes/week or greater moderate and vigorous physical activity (MVPA) time in 10-minute bouts or greater. Moderate and vigorous physical activity time/day in 10-minute bouts or greater was strongly associated with cardiorespiratory fitness (P = 0.001, ρ = −0.702) and lower extremity function (P = 0.019, ρ = −0.519) and moderately associated with muscle cross-sectional area (P = 0.035, ρ = 0.473). Conclusions Posttreatment OC survivors spent more time in prolonged sedentary bouts and had lower cardiorespiratory fitness and upper body strength compared with controls. Moderate and vigorous physical activity was associated with physical function and muscle cross-sectional area. Future studies should test the efficacy of exercise interventions to increase MVPA, reduce sedentary behavior, and increase cardiorespiratory fitness and muscle strength in OC survivors.


The Armenian Genocide that began in World War I, during the drive to transform the plural Ottoman Empire into a monoethnic Turkey, removed a people from its homeland and erased most evidence of their 3000-year-old material and spiritual culture. For the rest of this century, changing world events, calculated silence, and active suppression of memory have overshadowed the initial global outrage and have threatened to make this calamity "the forgotten genocide" of world history. Fourteen leading scholars here examine the Armenian Genocide from a variety of perspectives to refute those efforts and show how remembrance and denial have shaped perceptions of the event. Many of the chapters draw on archival records and court proceedings to review the precursors and process of the genocide, examine German complicity, and share the responses of victims, perpetrators, and bystanders.


The ecological impact of an invasive species can be heterogeneous through space and time. One such case in Australia involves native freshwater crocodiles Crocodylus johnstoni, which are highly sensitive to invasive cane toads Rhinella marina in some areas, whereas other populations experience little or no mortality from ingestion of the toxic toads. We studied the impact of toad invasion on three crocodile populations: one crashed, one showed a minor decrease and one appeared unaffected. We tested three hypotheses for the cause of this spatial variation in impact: differences among populations in toad–crocodile encounter rates (proximity of toads to crocodiles during spotlight surveys), differences in crocodile feeding responses (trials of prey preference in the laboratory) and differences in crocodile physiology (reduction of swim speed after receiving a dose of toad toxin). We found little divergence among populations in any of these traits: crocodiles from the three populations all encountered cane toads in the wild, and exhibited similar feeding responses and toxin tolerances. Thus, we cannot confidently identify causation for the impact heterogeneity. Reliance on alternative food resources and an ability to rapidly learn taste aversion may have allowed crocodiles to deal with toad arrival in Lake Argyle and the Daly River. Future work could usefully evaluate potential explanations for the failure of these adaptive mechanisms in the severely affected (Victoria River) population. We suggest that spatial variation in the availability of alternative prey (and thus the willingness of crocodiles to attack a novel toxic prey item) may have contributed to that variation in impact.


Heavy episodic drinking, or "binge drinking", is a significant behavioral health problem on American college campuses. It is associated with numerous physical, social, and legal consequences in this population, including but not limited to intoxicated driving, physical and sexual assault, accidents, alcohol poisoning, compromised academic performance, criminal justice system involvement, exclusion from athletic competition, and expulsion from student housing. The Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment method, or "SBIRT", has gained increasing recognition in recent years as an effective, validated tool for screening for and intervening in behavioral health problems generally and problematic alcohol use in particular. The purpose of this project was to deliver an educational presentation on the use of SBIRT to staff members, primarily clinicians, of a local college that does not currently use SBIRT as a routine part of patient care. A PowerPoint presentation was created and presented during a staff meeting for healthcare providers at the Bergeron Wellness Center at Saint Michael's College, and an editable screening tool was created and disseminated to the staff for use in their clinic in the event that they decide to adopt SBIRT. A post-presentation quiz and survey was administered, which demonstrated that respondents had gained knowledge from the presentation and had found it useful for their practice.


Explores and describes the close interrelationship between marketing and logistics, i.e. the marketing activities and the logistics activities in a marketing channel. The author acknowledges that marketing and logistics were united in the beginning of the twentieth century, but that the two disciplines were in part separated from each other during the evolution of the last century. The topic is a business philosophy that may contribute to the re‐integration of the research disciplines. Usually, from a logistics perspective, the disciplines are treated as separate from each other, while from a marketing perspective the opposite is often acknowledged. In the 1980s, the potential re‐integration between the disciplines from a logistics perspective emerged through the business philosophy labeled as supply chain management (SCM). Both scholars and practitioners in the field of logistics have popularized this business philosophy in recent years. Argues that SCM contributes to the re‐integration of marketing issues in the field of logistics theory and practice.


We present the first method for automatically mining code idioms from a corpus of previously written, idiomatic software projects. We take the view that a code idiom is a syntactic fragment that recurs across projects and has a single semantic purpose. Idioms may have metavariables, such as the body of a for loop. Modern IDEs commonly provide facilities for manually defining idioms and inserting them on demand, but this does not help programmers to write idiomatic code in languages or using libraries with which they are unfamiliar. We present Haggis, a system for mining code idioms that builds on recent advanced techniques from statistical natural language processing, namely, nonparametric Bayesian probabilistic tree substitution grammars. We apply Haggis to several of the most popular open source projects from GitHub. We present a wide range of evidence that the resulting idioms are semantically meaningful, demonstrating that they do indeed recur across software projects and that they occur more frequently in illustrative code examples collected from a Q&A site. Manual examination of the most common idioms indicate that they describe important program concepts, including object creation, exception handling, and resource management.


War Paint is the story of two remarkable women - Miss Elizabeth Arden and Madame Helena Rubinstein. Between them they left an extraordinary legacy which touches the lives of virtually all women today: the creation of the modern cosmetics and beauty industry. War Paint will trace the humble beginnings of both Arden and Rubinstein and examine the forces and influences that drove them. The book will also look at the period in which they lived, without which their phenomenal achievement cannot be truly appreciated. The similarities between the two are intriguing: dedicated to beauty, neither were great beauties themselves. They were both diminutive in size, if not in the size of their ego. They were both born into genteel poverty and were motivated by money and the creation of their businesses, to the exclusion of almost everything else. They were both avid social climbers and desperately thrifty. They also hated each other. This is the story of an industry, of a social movement and of a great rivalry. Gripping, glamorous and totally absorbing, this is social history at its best.


This article examines copyright's applicability to 3D printing technology, by analyzing the facts surrounding the (formerly) proposed development of a fully 3D printable firearm. Critical to this analysis however, is an understanding of how copyright has traditionally protected intellectual property, and why 3D printers do not fit into this conventional framework. As 3D printing is advancing at an extraordinarily rapid rate, any discussion of this topic would be incomplete without reference to the "moving target" that is 3D printing technology. In the short time between when this article was initially submitted for evaluation to the PIPSELF Law Forum in December 2012, and when it will be published in May 2013, many new uses for 3D printing have already been demonstrated, and indeed some of the issues discussed in this article have already become outdated, all within a six month timespan. This article discusses at length, the efforts of the Defense Distributed project to develop a 3D printable firearm. When the article was originally submitted in 2012, Defense Distributed had already managed to prove the feasibility of using 3D printed firearms components, but the gun utilizing the printed component promptly broke apart after only successfully firing 6 shots. However, in February 2013, Defense Distributed released a new video, demonstrating a redesigned 3D printed component that was successfully used to fire over 600 rounds without a structural failure. Other recent developments in 3D printing include a company whose goal is to produce 3D printable cultured leather and edible meat products. Finally, in January 2013, the organization Public Knowledge released a whitepaper entitled "What's the Deal with Copyright and 3D Printing?" written by Michael Weinberg. As both the whitepaper and this article discuss the same basic principles, but do so by analyzing slightly different areas of the law, I view the whitepaper as a companion piece to this article. UPDATE (5/5/13): Defense Distributed has completed (and successfully test fired) the world's first entirely 3D printed pistol. UPDATE (5/10/13): In the timespan of a single week after the release of the first 3D printed pistol, the U.S. State Department has initiated procedures to force Defense Distributed to remove all its 3D printable gun components from the Internet, with the State Department claiming it needs to review the files for compliance with the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). Further there are other measures being proposed by Congressman Steve Israel to outright ban 3D printed guns. However, considering that the 3D printable pistol was already downloaded over 100,000 times before the recent ITAR action, and the fact that the inherent design of the Internet means that many websites are foreign based, and therefore entirely outside the jurisdiction of the U.S., it appears to be an increasingly futile effort to force "removal" of these files from the Web. These files are still widely available on the Internet, and likely will continue to remain so, as websites like The Pirate Bay will continue to host & distribute 3D firearm files, regardless of any laws passed or litigation filed attempting to compel their removal.


Access efficiency and energy conservation are two critical performance concerns in a wireless data broadcast system. We propose in this paper a novel parameterized index called the exponential index that has a linear yet distributed structure for wireless data broadcast. Based on two tuning knobs, index base and chunk size, the exponential index can be tuned to optimize the access latency with the tuning time bounded by a given limit, and vice versa. The client access algorithm for the exponential index under unreliable broadcast is described. A performance analysis of the exponential index is provided. Extensive ns-2-based simulation experiments are conducted to evaluate the performance under various link error probabilities. Simulation results show that the exponential index substantially outperforms the state-of-the-art indexes. In particular, it is more resilient to link errors and achieves more performance advantages from index caching. The results also demonstrate its great flexibility in trading access latency with tuning time.


A stochastic beam generated by a recently introduced source of Schell type with cosine-Gaussian spectral degree of coherence is shown to possess interesting novel features on propagation in isotropic and homogeneous atmospheric turbulence with general non-Kolmogorov power spectrum. It is shown that while at small distances from the source the beam's intensity exhibits annular profile with adjustable area of the dark region, the center disappears at sufficiently large distances and the beam's intensity tends to Gaussian form. Hence the 3D bottle beam is produced by the cumulative effect of the random source and the atmosphere. The distances at which the on-axis beam intensity has local minima and maxima are shown to have analytic dependence on the source and the atmospheric parameters. And the influence of the fractal constant of the atmospheric power spectrum and refractive-index structure constant on beam characteristics is analyzed in depth. The novel double-cycle qualitative change in the degree of coherence is shown to occur on atmospheric propagation which was not previously known for any other beams.


We describe the approach taken to develop the United Kingdom's fi rst community Earth system model, UKESM1. This is a joint effort involving the Met Of fi ce and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), representing the U.K. academic community. We document our model development procedure and the subsequent U.K. submission to CMIP6, based on a traceable hierarchy of coupled physical and Earth system models. UKESM1 builds on the well ‐ established, world ‐ leading HadGEM models of the physical climate system and incorporates cutting ‐ edge new representations of aerosols, atmospheric chemistry, terrestrial carbon, and nitrogen cycles and an advanced model of ocean biogeochemistry. A high ‐ level metric of overall performance shows that both models, HadGEM3 ‐ GC3.1 and UKESM1, perform better than most other CMIP6 models so far submitted for a broad range of variables. We point to much more extensive evaluation performed in other papers in this special issue. The merits of not using any forced climate change simulations within our model development process are discussed. First results from HadGEM3 ‐ GC3.1 and UKESM1 include the emergent climate sensitivity (5.5 and 5.4 K, respectively) which is high relative to the current range of CMIP5 models. The role of cloud microphysics and cloud ‐ aerosol interactions in driving the climate sensitivity, and the systematic approach taken to understand this role, is highlighted in other papers in this special issue. We place our fi ndings within the broader modeling landscape indicating how our understanding of key processes driving higher sensitivity in the two U.K. models seems


Cardiomyopathies, defined as diseases of the myocardium associated with cardiac dysfunction, are classified into dilated, hypertrophic, restrictive and arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy, as well as unclassified.1 More recently, molecular classification has been suggested.2 Cardiomyopathies continue to be a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in the developed world.w1 In developing countries, however, there appears to be an increased incidence of the "usual" forms of cardiomyopathy, with a modified clinical course possibly due to genetic differences or environmental factors such as malnutrition, infections and pollution.w2 In addition, there are specific cardiomyopathies endemic to the tropics such as Chagas and endomyocardial fibrosis, which cause a considerable amount of death and suffering and have been classified as neglected diseases. We here describe what is known about these two diseases, their aetiologies, pathogenesis and management and outline directions for further research. The present article will discuss Chagas disease, and a subsequent article will address endomyocardial fibrosis.

Chagas disease is the leading cause of cardiac disease in many countries in Latin America, and the World Health Organization has estimated that 16–18 million people are currently infected and 90 million are at risk of infection.3 Chagas disease has been classified as one of the most neglected diseases in the world,w3 with no new drug development in the past 30 years.w4 Yet there are still 200 000 new cases of Chagas disease reported each year and some rural communities in Latin America have seroprevalence rates as high as 40%.

Chagas disease is caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi (fig 1), which is spread by triatomine bugs (fig 2). The disease is mainly constrained geographically to countries where its vector is endemic, ranging from South America to Mexico and southern USA. Transmission has also been shown to occur via blood transfusions, …


The temporal and spatial dynamics of primary and secondary biomass/production in the Barents Sea since the late 1990s are examined using remote sensing data, observations and a coupled physical-biological model. Field observations of mesozooplankton biomass, and chlorophyll a data from transects (different seasons) and large-scale surveys (autumn) were used for validation of the remote sensing products and modeling results. The validation showed that satellite data are well suited to study temporal and spatial dynamics of chlorophyll a in the Barents Sea and that the model is an essential tool for secondary production estimates. Temperature, open water area, chlorophyll a, and zooplankton biomass show large interannual variations in the Barents Sea. The climatic variability is strongest in the northern and eastern parts. The moderate increase in net primary production evident in this study is likely an ecosystem response to changes in climate during the same period. Increased open water area and duration of open water season, which are related to elevated temperatures, appear to be the key drivers of the changes in annual net primary production that has occurred in the northern and eastern areas of this ecosystem. The temporal and spatial variability in zooplankton biomass appears to be controlled largely by predation pressure. In the southeastern Barents Sea, statistically significant linkages were observed between chlorophyll a and zooplankton biomass, as well as between net primary production and fish biomass, indicating bottom-up trophic interactions in this region.


Article history: Received October 3, 2016 Received in revised format: October 22, 2016 Accepted February 2, 2017 Available online February 2 2017 Powder mixed electro discharge machining (PMEDM) is a hybrid machining process where the electrically conductive powder is mixed into the dielectric fluid to enhance the machining efficiency as well as surface finish. In this investigation, PMEDM is performed for the machining of AISI 304 stainless steel when silicon carbide powder is mixed into the kerosene dielectric. Peak current, pulse on time, gap voltage, duty cycle and powder concentration are considered as process parameter while material removal rate (MRR), tool wear rate (TWR) and surface roughness (Ra) are considered as response. A face centered central composite design (FCCCD) based response surface methodology (RSM) is applied to design the experiment. A hybrid optimization technique like desirability coupled with fuzzy-logic method is performed to get the optimum level of the multiple performance characteristics. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) is performed for the statistical analysis. The result shows that peak current is the most significant parameter for MRR, TWR and Ra. The optimal setting for maximum MRR, minimum TWR and Ra have been obtained by desirability coupled with fuzzy-logic method. Growing Science Ltd. All rights reserved. 7 © 201


Abstract. Contact freezing of single supercooled water droplets colliding with kaolinite dust particles has been investigated. The experiments were performed with droplets levitated in an electrodynamic balance at temperatures from 240 to 268 K. Under relatively dry conditions (when no water vapor was added) freezing was observed to occur below 249 K, while a freezing threshold of 267 K was observed when water vapor was added to the air in the chamber. The effect of relative humidity is attributed to an influence on the contact freezing process for the kaolinite-water droplet system, and it is not related to the lifetime of the droplets in the electrodynamic balance. Freezing probabilities per collision were derived assuming that collisions at the lowest temperature employed had a probability of unity. Mechanisms for contact freezing are briefly discussed.


Although described one hundred and thirty years ago, Vespertilio brachypterus Temminck remains a relatively poorly known species, such references as there are deriving for the most part from the original description or from specimens referred to V. brachypterus without direct comparison with the holotype. Described from Sumatra, the species was subsequently reported from Java by Fitzinger (1861:390) from the collection made during the exploratory voyage of the Austrian frigate "Novara", a report later repeated by Zelebor (1869: 17). Fitzinger (1870:24) gave a further description, as did Dobson (1876:92, 1878:223), who extended the range of the species to the island of Banka, apparently without reference to a specimen or published record. There have been few further references to the species other than those including it in faunal lists or similar accounts. Sody (1929a : 58) included it in the Javan list with some reservation and later (1937 : 227) questioned its reported occurrence on Banka. Chasen (1940 : 50) listed it from Sumatra, Java and questionably from Banka, referring (p. 50, footnote) a Javan specimen in the Bartels collection to V. brachypterus without direct comparison. Tate (1942:253) based a brief description on a "co-type" in the Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie, Leiden, putting V. brachypterus into his joffrei group of Pipistrellus with P. joffrei, P. stenopterus (both formerly referred to Nyctalus) and P. anthonyi. In a recent study of the genus Ρhiletor, Hill (1966: 386) suggested that from Tate and from the earlier description of a specimen in the Zoologisches Museum, Berlin by Dobson (1876:92, 1878:223) it seemed possible that V. brachypterus and P. stenopterus might be conspecific or consubspecific. Through the courtesy of the authorities of the Rijksmuseum van Natuur-


Long-term potentiation (LTP) is a form of synaptic plasticity thought to mediate learning and memory in hippocampal neurons. At a molecular level, neuronal function is altered during LTP when AMPA (α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid) neurotransmitter receptors accumulate in postsynaptic sites. This movement of receptors is promoted by PKA (cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase). Lu et al. explored the role of a scaffolding protein, AKAP150, that positions PKA appropriately so that it can phosphorylate AMPA receptors. When the authors examined mice expressing a mutant form of AKAP150 that doesn't bind PKA, they found that its effects were strongly dependent on the age of the mice examined. LTP induced by a single tetanic electrical stimulus was normal in animals 4 weeks old but was not detected in animals 7 to 12 weeks old. Inhibitors of PKA or of AMPA receptors that lack the GluR2 subunit also blocked LTP in 8-week-old mice but not in 4-week-old mice. (AMPA receptors that lack GluR2 contain the GluR1 subunit that is a substrate for PKA.) Thus, the authors propose that mice undergo two developmental transitions: They require PKA for LTP for the first few weeks of life, don't need it around 4 weeks of age, and then again need PKA's actions for LTP at around 8 weeks of age. This might reflect changes in function of the developing brain. In the immature brain, neurons may not be ready to form permanent synaptic connections, so LTP may be restrained by additional requirements--activation of PKA and GluR2-lacking AMPA receptors. The older brain may have a period of increased LTP (during which requirements are relaxed, i.e., PKA is not required) and then undergo restriction as the brain becomes more mature and connections are stabilized. (The authors carefully note other studies that provide contrasting results regarding the precise ages at which PKA signaling is required and whether GluR2-lacking receptors are the main ones used in 8-week-old animals.) Y. Lu, M. Allen, A. R. Halt, M. Weisenhaus, R. F. Dallapiazza, D. D. Hall, Y. M. Usachev, G. S. McKnight, J. W. Hell, Age-dependent requirement of AKAP150-anchored PKA and GluR2-lacking AMPA receptors in LTP. EMBO J. 26, 4879-4890 (2007). [PubMed]


In late-1990s Britain, the salwaar-kameez or 'Punjabi suit' emerged as a high-fashion garment. Popular both on the catwalk and on the street, it made front-page news when worn by Diana, Princess of Wales and by Cherie Booth, the wife of UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. In her ethnography of the local and global design economies established by Asian women fashion entrepreneurs, Parminder Bhachu focuses on the transformation of the salwaar-kameez from negatively coded 'ethnic clothing' to a global garment fashionable both on the margins and in the mainstream. Exploring the design and sewing businesses, shops and street fashions in which this revolution has taken place, she shows how the salwaar-kameez is today at the heart of new economic micro-markets which themselves represent complex, powerfully coded means of cultural dialogue and racial politics. The innovative designs of second-generation British Asian women are drawn from characteristically improvisational migrant cultural codes. Through their hybrid designs and creation of new aesthetics, these women cross cultural boundaries, battling with racism and redefining both Asian and British identities. At the same time, their border-crossing commercial entrepreneurship produces new diaspora economies which give them control over many economic, aesthetic, cultural and technological resources. In this way, the processes of global capitalism are gendered, racialized and localized through the interventions of diasporic women from the margins.


Background: Omega-3 (n-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have modulating effects in several chronic infl ammatory conditions. The aim of the present study was to test whether prior short-term dietary supplementation with n-3 (fi sh or seal oil) or n-6 (soy oil) PUFA rich oils would protect the development of dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis in rats. Methods: Forty-eight male Wistar rats were divided into 6 groups: no intervention, sham, DSS, seal oil + DSS, fi sh oil + DSS and soy oil + DSS. Following 7 days of acclimatisation, 1 mL oil (seal, fi sh or soy) or distilled water (sham) was administered by gavage day 8 to 14. Colitis was induced by 5% DSS in drinking water from day 15 to 21. Rats were sacrifi ced on day 23. Histological colitis (crypt and infl ammation) scores, faecal granulocyte marker protein (GMP) and quantitative fatty acid composition in red blood cells were measured. Results: Pretreatment with fi sh or seal oils did not signifi cantly infl uence DSS induced infl ammation. In fact, all the oils tended to exacerbate the infl ammation. Soy oil increased the mean crypt score (P < 0.04), but not the infl ammation score or GMP. The ratio of n-6 to n-3 fatty acids (FAs) was 11 to 1 and 10 to 1 in standard diet and in red blood cells of control rats, respectively. Following administration of DSS, the ratio fell in all treatment groups (P < 0.001). The lowest ratios were seen in the groups receiving DSS + fi sh or seal oils (around 6 to 1). Conclusion: Short-term pretreatment with fi sh or seal oils did not protect against subsequent induction of colitis by DSS in this rat model. Whether the high ratio of n-6 to n-3 FAs in the standard diet concealed effects of n-3 FA supplementation should be further investigated.


The ultimate objective of this study was, to explore community structure and biomass of zooplankton in relation to key environmental drivers to bear out the productivity of Lake Tinishu Abaya. Zooplankton samples collection was carried out for a year from January to December 2016 from two sampling sites (open and shore) using 30 µm mesh size net within the euphotic depth. Biomass of zooplankton was anticipated using length-weight regressions adjusted for the representative microcrustacean and biovolume of Rotifera from linear dimensions applied to simple geometric formula appropriate to body shape. In parallel, in-situ and laboratory measurements of the various physicochemical factors were performed using the standardized method. The results of the present study are given strongly generalized that Rotifera had the highest number of species (11 species) followed by Cladocera (5 species) and Copepods (2 species). Diversity parameter, the Shannon diversity index was higher for Rotifera (2.45) than cladocerans (2.395) and copepods (2.384). The mean total biomass of copepods, cladocerans, and Rotifera were 174.4, 46.76 and 13.67 µg/L at open site and 101.8, 51.35 and 10.9 µg/L at shore site, respectively. Physicochemical factors responsible for the observed variations in the biological features of the lake generalized that the lake water was fresh, well oxygenated, slightly warm, alkaline, very turbid, and with relatively high inorganic nutrients. The presence of fairly high diversity, abundance, and biomass of zooplankton in the study shows that the ecosystem of Lake Tinishu Abaya is chemically, physically and biologically productive which supports most of the aquatic life.

 Key words: Biomass, community structure, Lake Tinishu Abaya, productive, zooplankton


An analytical solution has been obtained for the equations of motion of water droplets impinging on a wedge in a two-dimensional supersonic flow field with a shock wave attached to the wedge. The closed-form solution yields analytical expressions for the equation of the droplet trajectory, the local rate of impingement and the impingement velocity at any point on the wedge surface, and the total rate of impingement. The analytical expressions are utilized to determine the impingement on the forward surfaces of diamond airfoils in supersonic flow fields with attached shock waves. The results presented include the following conditions: droplet diameters from 2 to 100 microns, pressure altitudes from sea level to 30,000 feet, free-stream static temperatures from 420 degrees r, free stream Mach numbers from 1.1 to 2.0, semiapex angles for the wedge from 1.14 degrees to 7.97 degrees, thickness-to-chord ratios for the diamond airfoil from 0.02 to 0.14, chord lengths from 1 to 20 feet, and angles of attack from zero to the inverse tangent of the airfoil thickness-to-chord ratio.


Total 348 burn cases were admitted at a medical college and hospital in Central India and studied during the period from May 2007 to April 2009. Out of which 196 patients died during treatment. Most of the burn cases were from rural area. Females outnumbered males as there were (62.64%) females and (37.36%) males with overall male to female ratio of 1:1.67. Maximum incidence was in the young adults between the age group of 20-39 years, comprising of (54.59%) cases. Most of the burn cases belong to low socioeconomic status. In both sexes majority of the burn cases were married. Most of the burn cases sustain flame burns followed by scalds and electric burns. Flame burns were predominantly observed in females. As per history at the time of admission, most of the burn cases were accidental, followed by suicidal and homicidal. Among accidental and suicidal burns majority of the cases were females and all the homicidal burn cases were females. Maximum patients have dermo-epidermal burns. Maximum (54.02%) burn cases had involved more than 50% of total body surface area. Overall case fatality rate was (56.32%). Case fatality was higher in females (68.80%) followed by males (35.38%). Case fatality was low in burns involving less than 30% of total body surface area. Case fatality was highest in suicidal burn cases (82.60%) followed by homicidal (66.66%) and accidental (50%). Commonest cause of death was septicemia alone or in combination with other causes constituting (84.69%) cases of total thermal burns.


Salmonella enterica is a global health concern because of its widespread association with foodborne illness. Bayesian models have been developed to attribute the burden of human salmonellosis to specific sources with the ultimate objective of prioritizing intervention strategies. Important considerations of source attribution models include the evaluation of the quality of input data, assessment of whether attribution results logically reflect the data trends and identification of patterns within the data that might explain the detailed contribution of different sources to the disease burden. Here, more than 12,000 non‐typhoidal Salmonella isolates from human, bovine, porcine, chicken and turkey sources that originated in Minnesota were analysed. A modified Bayesian source attribution model (available in a dedicated R package), accounting for non‐sampled sources of infection, attributed 4,672 human cases to sources assessed here. Most (60%) cases were attributed to chicken, although there was a spike in cases attributed to a non‐sampled source in the second half of the study period. Molecular epidemiological analysis methods were used to supplement risk modelling, and a visual attribution application was developed to facilitate data exploration and comprehension of the large multiyear data set assessed here. A large amount of within‐source diversity and low similarity between sources was observed, and visual exploration of data provided clues into variations driving the attribution modelling results. Results from this pillared approach provided first attribution estimates for Salmonella in Minnesota and offer an understanding of current data gaps as well as key pathogen population features, such as serotype frequency, similarity and diversity across the sources. Results here will be used to inform policy and management strategies ultimately intended to prevent and control Salmonella infection in the state.


With the increased use of DNS anycast, load balancing, and other
mechanisms allowing more than one DNS name server to share a single IP
address, it is sometimes difficult to tell which of a pool of name
servers has answered a particular query. While existing ad-hoc
mechanisms allow an operator to send follow-up queries when it is
necessary to debug such a configuration, the only completely reliable
way to obtain the identity of the name server that responded is to
have the name server include this information in the response itself.
This note defines a protocol extension to support this functionality.
[STANDARDS-TRACK]


Response Inhibition to High Calorie Food Cues Among Adolescents Following Active and Sedentary Video Game Play Using a Go/No-Go Task: A Randomized Crossover Study Joshua L. Smith Department of Exercise Sciences, BYU Doctor of Philosophy Sedentary behaviors, such as leisure time computer use and sedentary video games, are significant barriers to regular physical activity and contribute to high rates of overweight and obesity among adolescents. Sedentary screen time can adversely affect food intake and food selection. Active video games may be a promising way of increasing daily physical activity levels among adolescents. Active video games may help modulate response inhibition and food intake. PURPOSE: Compare the effects of an acute bout of active and sedentary video gaming on N2 amplitudes (while viewing high calorie and low calorie images), Stroop Color Word Test (Stroop test) performance and ad libitum eating. METHODS: We used a within-subjects randomized crossover design with counterbalanced treatment conditions was used among 65 participants (31 girls, 34 boys; age = 13.5 ± 1.1 year; height = 161.4 ± 10.2 cm; weight = 52.5 ± 12.3 kg; BMI = 19.9 ± 3.3 kg·m2). Participants completed 2 separate video gaming sessions, 7 days apart, while energy expenditure during sedentary and active video game play was measured using the K4b2 portable metabolic system. The K4b2 system provided metabolic equivalents (METs) which are used as a measure of energy cost of physical activity. After either 60 minutes of active or sedentary video game play, participants completed a go/no-go task while viewing high calorie and low calorie images while electroencephalogram (EEG) data were collected. N2 event related potential (ERP) amplitudes were measured during the viewing task. Participants also completed a Stroop task to measure response inhibition. Finally, participants were given high calorie and low calorie snacks to consume ad libitum. We used a repeated measures ANOVA was used to measure main and interaction effects for N2 ERP amplitudes within subjects. RESULTS: Active video game play relative to sedentary video games significantly increased METs (F = 543.1, p ≤ 0.0001) from 1.7 ± 0.35 to 5.0 ± 1.2 METs. A significant gender-by-condition interaction (F = 7.03, p ≤ 0.009) was observed for energy expenditure with boys (5.4 ± 1.1 METs) expending more energy during the active video game than girls (4.5 ± 1.1 METs). No significant differences were observed for the N2 component (F = 0.50, p = 0.48) between video game conditions nor between genders (F = 1.85, p = 0.17). There were no significant differences (F = 3.10, p = 0.08) in the total number of calories consumed between the 2 video gaming conditions. Results from the Stroop task showed no significant differences for word naming (F = 0.45, p = 0.49), congruent condition (F = 0.43, p = 0.52) and incongruent condition (F = 0.14, p = 0.71) between the active and sedentary video games. CONCLUSION: Sixty minutes of active video gaming increases energy expenditure to a moderate intensity level but does not alter behavioral response or response inhibition to high calorie or low calorie foods.


In this paper, we derive a stochastic maximum-likelihood (ML) method for estimating spatio-temporal parameters for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) channels. Such estimators are needed in propagation studies where extensive channel measurements and sounding are required. These are seminal tasks in the process of developing advanced channel models. The proposed method employs an angular von Mises distribution model which is appropriate for angular data observed in channel measurement campaigns. The signal model is stochastic, and consequentially the method is particularly useful for estimation of the diffuse scattering component. This approach leads to lower complexity and faster convergence in comparison to deterministic models. These benefits are due to lower dimensionality of the model, leading to a simpler optimization problem. The statistical performance of the estimator is studied by establishing the Crameacuter-Rao lower bound (CRLB) and comparing the variances. The simulations show that the variance of the proposed estimation technique reaches the CRLB for relatively small sample size. The estimator is robust in the sense that meaningful results are obtained when applied to data generated by channel models other than the one used in its derivation