OBJECTIVE
There is very little information on the gradients of oxygen concentration from the synovial surface to the subchondral bone in articular cartilage. Cartilage is usually regarded as hypoxic, even though cellular metabolism is inhibited at low oxygen concentrations. We therefore measured rates of cellular consumption of oxygen and used these rates to calculate oxygen tension profiles across articular cartilage.

METHODS
The rate of oxygen consumption by bovine articular chondrocytes was measured in vitro, either in intact cartilage slices or in isolated chondrocytes. The oxygen tension profile across articular cartilage was predicted by solving a 1-dimensional reaction-diffusion equation. The effect of synovial fluid oxygen concentration, cell density, cartilage thickness, and influx of oxygen from the subchondral bone on the oxygen profile in the tissue was examined.

RESULTS
Oxygen consumption rates were relatively independent of oxygen tension at high oxygen tensions (5-21%), where they were approximately 10 nmoles/10(6) cells/hour for both isolated chondrocytes and for cartilage slices. Below 5% oxygen, the rate fell in an oxygen tension-dependent manner. Analysis showed that the oxygen profile across cartilage fell steeply in all but the thinnest cartilage samples but only fell to approximately 1% for low oxygen tensions in synovial fluid, with no supply from the subchondral bone.

CONCLUSION
The oxygen tension in normal cartilage is not likely to fall to 1% except under abnormal conditions. Oxygen tensions within cartilage are strongly affected by a number of factors, including oxygen concentrations in synovial fluid, cartilage thickness, cell density, and cellular oxygen consumption rates. Supply from the subchondral bone may be of particular importance.


Objectives
Improving cognitive health in young adulthood may improve academic and career success and prevent early age-related cognitive decline. A growing body of evidence suggests that the dietary carotenoid lutein may promote cognitive function; however, these studies have primarily been conducted in Non-Hispanic White populations. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between macular pigment optical density (MPOD), a biomarker of lutein status, and cognitive function in a diverse, young adult population. Further, we examined the association between fruit and vegetable (F&V) intake and MPOD scores.

Methods
In this cross-sectional study, seventy young adults (Mean = 20.2, SD = 2.3 years of age), were recruited from a university in Central Texas. Daily F&V intake were assessed by the NCI fruit and vegetable intake screener. MPOD was measured with heterochromatic flicker photometry. Cognitive performance was assessed with the NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery, and fully corrected T-scores that correct for age, gender, race/ethnicity, and education were used for analyses. Participants were split into Low and High MPOD groups based on the MPOD median of the sample. The association between F&V intake and MPOD was assessed by multiple linear regression, including body fat percentage as a covariate. F&V intake as a function of MPOD group was analyzed by ANOVA, and cognitive scores were compared using ANCOVA with BMI as a covariate.

Results
The sample was primarily female (68.5%) and Caucasian (72.7%), and 40% of the population was Hispanic. The MPOD mean (Mean = 0.39, SD = 0.17) of the sample was above the reported national average of 0.33. Participants consumed approximately 1 cup of fruits and 1 cup of vegetables a day. F&V intake was not correlated with MPOD scores (R2 = -0.03, P = 0.81), and F&V intake did not significantly differ between High and Low MPOD groups. Episodic memory performance was significantly higher in the high MPOD group compared to those with low MPOD (P = 0.041). No other differences were found between the MPOD groups for the other fluid cognitive tests.

Conclusions
MPOD was not a biomarker for F&V intake which may be due to the overall low intakes of these lutein-containing foods in the young adult sample. Lutein's cognitive benefits in young adults may be domain specific.

Funding Sources
none.


Dynamic vision sensors (DVSs) encode visual input as a stream of events generated upon relative light intensity changes in the scene. These sensors have the advantage of allowing simultaneously high temporal resolution (better than 10 µs) and wide dynamic range (>120 dB) at sparse data representation, which is not possible with clocked vision sensors. In this paper, we focus on the task of stereo reconstruction. The spatiotemporal and asynchronous aspects of data provided by the sensor impose a different stereo reconstruction approach from the one applied for synchronous frame-based cameras. We propose to model the event-driven stereo matching by a cooperative network (Marr and Poggio 1976 Science 194 283–7). The history of the recent activity in the scene is stored in the network, which serves as spatiotemporal context used in disparity calculation for each incoming event. The network constantly evolves in time, as events are generated. In our work, not only the spatiotemporal aspect of the data is preserved but also the matching is performed asynchronously. The results of the experiments prove that the proposed approach is well adapted for DVS data and can be successfully used for disparity calculation.


We develop a new approach to classical gravity starting from Mach's principles and the idea that the local shape of spatial configurations is fundamental. This new theory, shape dynamics, is equivalent to general relativity but differs in an important respect: shape dynamics is a theory of dynamic conformal 3–geometry, not a theory of spacetime. Equivalence is achieved by trading foliation invariance for local conformal invariance (up to a global scale). After the trading, what is left is a gauge theory invariant under 3d diffeomorphisms and conformal transformations that preserve the volume of space. There is one non–local global Hamiltonian that generates the dynamics. Thus, shape dynamics is a formulation of gravity that is free of the local problem of time. In addition, the symmetry principle is simpler than that of general relativity because the local constraints are linear. Therefore, shape dynamics provides a novel new starting point for quantum gravity. Furthermore, the conformal invariance provides an ideal setting for studying the relationship between gravity and boundary conformal field theories. The procedure for the trading of symmetries was inspired by a technique called best matching. We explain best matching and its relation to Mach's principles. The key features of best matching are illustrated through finite dimensional toy models. A general picture is then established where relational theories are treated as gauge theories on configuration space. Shape dynamics is then constructed by applying best matching to conformal geometry. We then study shape dynamics in more detail by computing its Hamiltonian perturbatively and establishing a connection with conformal field theory.


The shift from product-based to knowledge economies has resulted in an excess demand for skilled workers and created a global 'war' for talent. In order to retain talents, organizations need to meet their expectations. The new generation to enter the workforce, namely the millennial generation have very explicit demands, for leadership development in particular. These demands create challenges for companies, especially smaller organizations with limited resources. The development of new leadership talents is indeed one of the main impediments to growth today, as current leaders are retiring at accelerating rates.This qualitative study explores how medium-sized organizations (MSOs) in Sweden employ talent management as a succession-planning tool to retain Millennial talents, using an abduc- tive research approach. Through eleven semi-structured interview, the authors have gained an in-depth understanding of how managers in MSOs reason about succession planning and talent management as a mean to retain millennial talents.The authors expand the understanding of academic literature of how medium-sized compa- nies approach succession planning by developing their internal leadership talents. Four nu- ances of succession planning are presented and in addition to existing literature, the authors have identified a dilemma to talent development in MSOs, denoted 'The Paradox'.This study finally provides starting points for further research as well as practical recommen- dations for medium-sized company managers.


The terms governing land investments can shape whether host countries and local communities benefit from investment projects. Yet host governments in low- and middle-income countries often lack sufficient legal and technical capacity to prepare for, negotiate, implement, and monitor investments, and can confront barriers in accessing necessary expertise. This report focuses on the "legal support gaps" encountered by low- and middle-income countries in the context of investments for agricultural and forestry projects that are regulated by investor-state contracts. It offers good practices—for host governments, donors, legal support providers, and investors—that can increase government access to, and use of, legal support and improve the capacity of lawyers to help governments achieve responsible land investments.


In the past few years, design science has become a topic of increasing importance, especially in the North American academic IS community. Some observers see a new hegemony forming. Others dispute that but suggest that design science is merely the latest bandwagon rolling through the IS domain. A panel at the 2008 International Conference on Information Systems debated views of design science prevalent in the IS community. This paper reports on the panel discussion and attempts to position design science from various perspectives, including North American and European views, the latter with a long tradition of design-based IS scholarship.


This thesis investigates the health status of and health risks to male Nepalese migrant construction and factory workers in the Middle East (West Asia) and Malaysia. After the more seasonal migration to India, the Middle East and Malaysia are the second most popular destinations for Nepalese workers. Differences in the health status and health risks for Nepalese workers associated with the type of work-place, demographic, socio-economic and health characteristics have been investigated in this Ph.D. This study adopted self-reported tools to measure general physical and mental health. These health risks have been measured in terms of perceived health risks and experience of work-related accidents at work. This study uses a mixed-methods approach including questionnaires and in-depth interviews with male Nepalese migrant workers, upon their return to, or prior to their departure from Nepal. Questionnaire data (n=403) estimated the health status of migrant workers and the level of risk to which they are exposed. The interviews (n=20) with a sub-sample of the survey population has offered detailed. Ethical approval granted by the Nepal Health Research Council. Nearly half of the respondents (46%) were aged 20 to 29, most were married (91%), without formal education or only had completed primary education (71%). Most (87%) rated their health as "very good/good or fair". More than three quarters (79%) perceived their work environment as "very good/good or fair". Two-thirds (65%) were satisfied with their accommodation abroad. The majority had semi-skilled jobs (69%) and 71% had registered with a doctor; 62% had national insurance; 17% had experienced a work accident. Overall, age was associated with self-reported poor health status as health appeared to worsen with increasing age. Perceived diet, health risks and the work environment were strongly associated with self-reported poor health status. Age, satisfaction with accommodation, work environment and country of work were strongly associated with accidents at work. Country of work and health insurance were significantly associated with not visiting a doctor abroad. The qualitative findings focus on six main themes: (a) push factors of migration; (b) pull factors; (c) living abroad; (d) working abroad; (e) health and health services; and (f) suggestions to improve health and well-being. The in-depth interviews confirmed that Nepalese migrant workers experienced accidents at work, skin problems, heart attacks, mental health issues and even death. In general, employers were perceived not to value the health of migrant workers enough and due to the pressures of work many workers took risks. A significant minority of Nepalese migrant workers working in the Middle East and Malaysia have experienced work-related risks, unsafe and stressful working and living environments and delayed medical treatment. Health and safety at work should focus on encouraging employers to provide safe work environments by giving health and safety training to ensure potential harm reduction. However, the main evidence from this study is that the majority of Nepalese male migrant workers do report a fairly positive experience e.g. with their health, health insurance and access to health services, of living and working abroad. This phenomenon coupled with the poor living and working conditions in Nepal helps explain why workers are willing to work in high risk jobs and in relatively poor working conditions abroad.


The brittle-to-ductile transition (BDT) in boron, antimony and arsenic doped Cz silicon crystals has been experimentally studied, respectively. The BDT temperatures in antimony and arsenic doped silicon wafers are lower than that in a non-doped wafer while the BDT temperature in a boron doped wafer is almost the same as that in the non-doped wafer. The activation energy was obtained from the strain rate dependence of the BDT temperature. It was found that the values of the activation energy in the antimony and arsenic doped wafers are lower than that in the non-doped and boron doped wafers, indicating that the dislocation velocity in the antimony and arsenic doped silicon is faster than that in the non-doped while the dislocation velocity in the boron doped is the same as that in the non-doped. The effect of increasing in dislocation velocity on the BDT temperature was calculated by two-dimensional discrete dislocation dynamics simulations, indicating that the increasing in dislocation velocity decreases the BDT temperature in silicon single crystals.


Statistical static timing analysis (SSTA) has become a key method for analyzing the effect of process variation in aggressively scaled CMOS technologies. Much research has focused on the modeling of spatial correlation in SSTA. However, the vast majority of these works used artificially generated process data to test the proposed models. Hence, it is difficult to determine the actual effectiveness of these methods, the conditions under which they are necessary, and whether they lead to a significant increase in accuracy that warrants their increased runtime and complexity. In this paper, we study 5 different correlation models and their associated SSTA methods using 35420 critical dimension (CD) measurements that were extracted from 23 reticles on 5 wafers in a 130nm CMOS process. Based on the measured CD data, we analyze the correlation as a function of distance and generate 5 distinct correlation models, ranging from simple models which incorporate one or two variation components to more complex models that utilize principle component analysis and quad-trees. We then study the accuracy of the different models and compare their SSTA results with the result of running STA directly on the extracted data. We also examine the trade-off between model accuracy and run time, as well as the impact of die size on model accuracy. We show that, especially for small dies (6.6mm times 5.7mm), the simple models provide comparable accuracy to that of the more complex ones, while incurring significantly less runtime and implementation difficulty. The results of this study demonstrate that correlation models for SSTA must be carefully tested on actual process data and must be used judiciously


Complex under-actuated multilink mechanism involves a system whose number of control inputs is smaller than the dimension of the configuration space. The ability to control such a system through the manipulation of its natural dynamics would allow for the design of more energy-efficient machines with the ability to achieve smooth motions similar to those found in the natural world. This research aims to understand the complex nature of the Robogymnast, a triple link underactuated pendulum built at Cardiff University with the purpose of studying the behaviour of non-linear systems and understanding the challenges in developing its control system.
A mathematical model of the robot was derived from the Euler-Lagrange equations. The design of the control system was based on the discrete-time linear model around the downward position and a sampling time of 2.5 milliseconds.
Firstly, Invasive Weed Optimization (IWO) was used to optimize the swing-up motion of the robot by determining the optimum values of parameters that control the input signals of the Robogymnast's two motors. The values obtained from IWO were then applied to both simulation and experiment. The results showed that the swing-up motion of the Robogymnast from the stable downward position to the inverted configuration to be successfully achieved.
Secondly, due to the complex nature and nonlinearity of the Robogymnast, a novel approach of modelling the Robogymnast using a multi-layered Elman neural
ii
network (ENN) was proposed. The ENN model was then tested with various inputs and its output were analysed. The results showed that the ENN model to be capable of providing a better representation of the actual system compared to the mathematical model.
Thirdly, IWO is used to investigate the optimum Q values of the Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) for inverted balance control of the Robogymnast. IWO was used to obtain the optimal Q values required by the LQR to maintain the Robogymnast in an upright configuration. Two fitness criteria were investigated: cost function J and settling time T. A controller was developed using values obtained from each fitness criteria. The results showed that LQRT performed faster but LQRJ was capable of stabilizing the Robogymnast from larger deflection angles.
Finally, fitness criteria J and T were used simultaneously to obtain the optimal Q values for the LQR. For this purpose, two multi-objective optimization methods based on the IWO, namely the Weighted Criteria Method IWO (WCMIWO) and the Fuzzy Logic IWO Hybrid (FLIWOH) were developed. Two LQR controllers were first developed using the parameters obtained from the two optimization methods. The same process was then repeated with disturbance applied to the Robogymnast states to develop another two LQR controllers. The response of the controllers was then tested in different scenarios using simulation and their performance was evaluated. The results showed that all four controllers were able to balance the Robogymnast with the fastest settling time achieved by WMCIWO with disturbance followed by in the ascending order: FLIWOH with disturbance, FLIWOH, and WCMIWO.


UNLABELLED
Behavioral and electrophysiological studies on bistable images helped to trace the boundary between what perception owes to early visual processing, and what cognition adds to it. They demonstrated that passive sensory processing can be actively modulated in a top-down manner. For example, knowledge and intentional control has been shown to alternate percepts of the same stimulus. One reason for this phenomenon to occur is a change in the allocation of attention in the visual display. How does this affect a task whose successful completion already requires permanent re-allocation of attention? Here, we use the multiple-object tracking (MOT) paradigm to study influences of participants' knowledge on stimulus behavior to demonstrate that top-down processes affect sensory visual processing of dynamic stimuli. In MOT tasks, participants track and identify a specified set of target objects that move among identical looking distractors. Using pairs of cartoon eyes as stimuli, we integrated a strong exogenous cue that works independently of top-down control. In an experimental series, participants either tracked without further knowledge or were asked to identify the four conditions they were informed about beforehand. The gaze-cue effect was either implemented by the objects constantly "staring" or randomly "flirting" with a single other object (either a target or a distractor).

RESULTS
(1) only with explicit explanations about the eyes' behavior, perception shifts were observed (measured in how often participants marked the gaze-cued object), (2) even when observers failed to identify the eyes' behavior, the impact of the gaze cue was still strong, and (3) it is not tracking experience per se that enhances the gaze-cue processing. These results not only show that cognitive processing modes determine visual perception in attention-demanding dynamic tasks, but also serve as an approach to explain existing, contradicting results of past research. Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2015.


Zahra S, Hofstetter RW, Waring KM, Gehring C. 2020. Review: The invasion of Acacia nilotica in Baluran National Park, Indonesia, and potential future control strategies. Biodiversitas 21: 104-116. Acacia nilotica, commonly called prickly acacia, is infamous for its ability to invade various ecosystems, especially savannah. The tree was introduced to Baluran National Park (BNP), Indonesia in 1969 and nowadays has invaded more than 50% of BNP savannah habitat. Its presence has had significant negative impacts on local flora and fauna of the park. Physical and chemical eradication efforts of this plant have been conducted in the park but these have failed. Little is known about the tree invasion in Indonesia and no control suggestions have previously been proposed. Here, we review the causes and history of the invasion of this tree, describe previous attempts to eradicate the tree, and provide possible containment and control strategies. We describe 12 strategies based on successes and failures to control this tree in Indonesia and other countries and divide the methods into four categories: (i) physical: girdling the trunk, uprooting with winch, manual seedling uprooting, defloration, and restoration with fire; (ii) chemical: using biochar or herbicides; (iii) biological: using native plant competitors (grasses, shade trees), predators (insect) and pathogens (fungi) or microorganisms; (iv) social: centralized tree utilization, education outreach, and stakeholder collaboration. We summarize the relative effectiveness and efficiency of each method and explain how to integrate the aforementioned methods to help authorities choose the most appropriate strategies for their resources, needs and goals.


The implementation of road pricing policies is dependent on political support for the policy. It is frequently argued that many pricing proposals fail to be implemented due to the opposition of one or a group of policy actors (e.g. political parties, interest groups). This study considers this issue and examines the reasons for non-implementation of proposals for Dutch road pricing policies by analysing the policy position changes of 26 major policy actors and the changes in consensus and conflict among these actors over a policy process of 16 years. The "Advocacy Coalition Framework" (ACF) is used as the theoretical lens. Our findings show that in the Netherlands non-implementation cannot be ascribed to only the opposition of one policy actor or to one group of policy actors, but rather to features of the Dutch political system/culture and complications peculiar to the road pricing subsystem (socio-cultural values related to mobility, complex design issues). We found that internal and external shocks, and policy-oriented learning affected the subsystem and alerted the power balance between pro-and anti-road pricing coalitions. However, these factors did not produce a major policy change, namely, the introduction of a road pricing scheme.


During recent years significant progress has been made in the treatment of HIV-1, at least in part due to the availability of potent antiretroviral drugs. The goal of the current treatment strategies is to inhibit the viral replication as completely as possible by using a combination of 3 or more antiretroviral drugs. This Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) has radically changed the clinical outcome of HIV, leading to decreased mortality and morbidity, at least in developed countries. Additionally to the advent of new and potent drugs, demonstrations of the prognostic value of the CD4 cell count and the plasma viral load were of major importance in the development of therapeutic strategies. Especially the ability of viral load assays to assess accurately the true level of viral replication, led to a better understanding of the pathogenesis of the disease. HIV proved to be a highly dynamic infection even during the period of clinical latency. The initial enthusiasm that HAART could radically change the outcome of HIV was cooled off in face of the difficulties in real life associated with the complex treatment strategies. Besides long-term side effects and suboptimal drug potency, the emergence of resistant virus and the necessity of perfect therapy adherence are major concerns for obtaining a sustained control of viral replication. In this study we focused on HIV resistance, which remains one of the major threats for a sustained response to antiretroviral therapy. HIV proved to be able to develop resistance to all currently used antiretroviral drugs. The high replication rate of the virus together with the low fidelity of the viral reverse transcriptase, from the basis for the presence of enormous amounts of viral variants. Whenever viral replication is ongoing in the presence of antiretroviral drugs, these variants that escape the inhibitory effects of the drugs will be selected. Although the knowledge in the field of HIV resistance has expanded enormously, many issues need to be answered. Genotypic and phenotypic resistance patterns are evolving continuously, due to changes in the treatment strategies. Moreover the relation between drug resistance and therapy failure needs further investigation, in order to prove the relevance of performing resistance testing in the follow-up of HIV-infected patients. The wide availability of antiretroviral drugs has led to the transmission of resistant HIV. Infection with HIV resistant to one or more antiretroviral drugs has been observed to occur through the different transmission routes. In a first study we assessed the prevalence of genotypic resistance to antiretroviral drugs in Belgian antiretroviral-naïve HIV-infected patients. We observed that HIV strains with resistance-related mutations to one or more classes of antiretroviral drugs are not uncommon in the Belgian naïve patients. Furthermore the inclusion of samples from patients visiting the Belgian hospitals for the first time in 1995, 1997 and 1998, showed that the overall prevalence of baseline genotypic resistance remains rather constant (26-30%). The increasing trend in genotypic baseline resistance to 3TC (2% to 6.3%) and PIs (4.4% to 9.9%) as well as the decrease in ZDV-resistance (13.3% to 5.4%), reflect the change in treatment strategies, and resistance to these drugs is most probably caused by transmission of variants with resistance mutations selected during therapy. The presence of NNRTI-related mutations (around 16%) is likely to reflect the occurrence of baseline polymorphisms, since NNRTI-related mutations can occur without a replication deficit for the virus. Moreover, despite the rather recent introduction of NNRTIs into the clinic from 1997 onwards, no clear trend in NNRTI baseline resistance over time is observed. The best current therapeutic strategy for HIV-infected patients is to start antiretroviral therapy with HAART in order to avoid the accumulation of resistance towards drugs in less suppressive regimens. In a second study, we showed that the start of HAART in antiretroviral-naive HIV-patients in daily clinical practice could prevent viral breakthrough for up to 44 months in 60% of patients (n = 25). Six of 10 patients with virologic failure developed resistance to the drugs included in their treatment regimens. In comparison to patients with a sustained virologic response, patients with virologic failure were in a later disease stage when starting therapy and showed lower PI drug-levels, what can be an indication of poor adherence. Despite a poor virologic response for some of them, a rise in CD4 cell count was observed for all patients during the study period. A large number of HIV-infected patients started treatment in the pre-HAART period. The use of NRTIs is mono- or bitherapy was not able to prevent the development of resistant virus. In a third study we studied the prevalence and characteristics of 2 patterns of multinucleoside resistance (MNR) in European patients (n = 755). In patients without NRTI-exposure or with exposure to only one NRTI, no MNR was observed. MNR was present in low prevalence (each pattern < 2%) in patients pretreated with multiple NRTIs. Despite this low prevalence, MNR should be closely monitored, since it results in broad cross-resistance to NRTIs in vitro and a poor therapy response in vivo. We also assessed the predictive value of baseline resistance on the virologic response to later added drugs. The genotype of patients starting or changing a therapy consisting solely of NRTIs was analyzed at baseline and 6 months later. In patients without genotypic mutations towards the added drug the virologic response was significantly better compared to patients with baseline resistance. At 6 months however, both patient groups showed a rise in viral load due to the accumulation of NRTI-related mutations under the presence of poorly suppressive regimens, although the difference between the two groups remained significant. In this study, and also in studies reported by others, the presence of baseline resistance has a high predictive value for therapy failure, while the absence of resistance is not predictive for therapy response. Suboptimal adherence may be one of the reasons of the poor predictive value of the absence of baseline resistance for a good therapy response. In a last observational study, we investigated the relation between adherence, the presence and development of genotypic resistance and the virologic response in patients during HAART therapy. Adherence to 1 protease inhibitor was monitored using Electronic Event Monitoring. Patients with perfect therapy adherence and in particular without drug holidays, can control viral replication provided that the activity of the drugs included in the combination is not entirely compromised by the presence of baseline resistance mutations. In our patient population, reduced adherence resulted in therapy failure, mostly associated with a subsequent accumulation of resistance mutations. In conclusion, the outcome of the HIV disease has been revolutionarily changed with the advent of HAART. Both resistance and treatment adherence are crucial factors in determining the therapy response. Retrospective studies, such as ours, and a limited number of prospective trials already proved the short-term benefit of therapy switch based on the results of resistance tests in addition to standard of care. To ultimately define the role of tools as resistance testing and adherence monitoring with eventual adherence interventions, more prospective trials are needed as well in treatment-naïve as in experienced patients.


INTRODUCTION
Salvia, an important and widely available member of Lamiaceae family. Although comparative analysis on secondary metabolites in several Salvia species from Turkey has been reported, their hallucinogenic chemicals have not been screened thoroughly.

OBJECTIVE
This study provides LC-MS/MS analysis of 40 Salvia species for screening their psychoactive constituents of salvinorin A and salvinorin B. 5S-rRNA gene non-coding region of Salvia plants was sequenced, aligned and compared with that sequence of Salvia divinorum plant.

METHODOLOGY
Targeted molecules of salvinorin A and salvinorin B were quantified, using LC-MS/MS, from all aerial parts of 40 Salvia species, collected from different parts of Turkey. Regions of 5S-rRNA gene from different species were amplified by polymerase chain reaction and DNA sequences were aligned with Salvia divinorum DNA sequences.

RESULTS
Very few of the Salvia species (S. recognita, S. cryptantha and S. glutinosa) contained relatively high levels of salvinorin A (212.86 ± 20.46 μg/g, 51.50 ± 4.95 μg/g and 38.92 ± 3.74 μg/g, respectively). Salvinorin B was also found in Salvia species of S. potentillifolia, S. adenocaulon and S. cryptantha as 2351.99 ± 232.22 μg/g, 768.78 ± 75.90 μg/g and 402.24 ± 39.71 μg/g, respectively. The sequences of 5S-rRNA gene of 40 different Salvia species were presented and it was found that none of the Salvia species in Turkey had similar DNA sequence to Salvia divinorum plant.

CONCLUSION
This is the first report of screening 40 Salvia species in Turkey according to their psychoactive constituents, salvinorin A and salvinorin B and their genomic structures. It is possible that some of these Salvia species may exhibit some psycho activity. Thus, they need to be screened further. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


A cross-sectional study was performed in the Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, between 1st March 2018 and 31st August 2018. Data were obtained using a structured questionnaire and a Composite abuse scale in 460 females. Study settingThe study was carried out in the Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki. This is the only specialist teaching hospital in the state, receiving referrals from private and mission hospitals in the state and neighboring states. It is sited in Abakaliki, the state capital. It has a nursing and midwifery school for the training of qualified nurses and midwives. Apart from been a center of teaching and learning, it provides 24/7 medical services via the emergency/general outpatient department and specialized units. Study populationThe study population was female nursing students of Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki meeting the inclusion criteria. They were consenting females who were not pregnant and were in an intimate partner relationship for the past 12 months. Those who refused to consent, were sick, or who were not in an intimate partner relationship for the past 12 months were excluded. A simple random sampling method was used to select respondents. They were interviewed between January 2018 and May 2018 in a dedicated office for the study. They were interviewed using a structured questionnaire and the Composite Abuse Scale (CAS) version 2013 (Hegarty, 2005). The questionnaire was completed based on their responses. The social class of the study population was determined based on the social class classification of Olusanya et al. (Olusanya & Okpere, 1985), which uses the educational level of the woman and the occupation of the husband to determine a woman's social class. The social class of the study participants who were not married was based on that of their parent. They were graded into social classes 1 to 5: social classes 1 and 2 were classified as upper social class while social classes 3, 4, and 5 were classified as lower social class. IPV was defined as actual or threatened physical, sexual, psychological, emotional, or stalking abuse by an intimate partner, while an intimate partner was defined as a current or former spouse or non-marital partner such as a boyfriend or dating partner (Basile, 2007).Sample sizeThe sample size was calculated using the formula for a cross-sectional study (N= Z2 PQ/D2), where N = required sample size, Z = 1.96 at a confidence level at 95%, P = an estimated population of 44.6% (Esere, 2009), D = margin of error at 5%, and Q = 1-P. The sample size for the study was 460 after the addition of a 20% attrition rate.Ethical considerationsEthical approval for this study was obtained from the Health Research and Ethics Committee of Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, Ebonyi state. The ethical approval number was REC APPROVAL NUMBER 14/11/2017-19/12/2017.Composite abuse scale (CAS)CAS is an easily administered self-report measure that provides standardized subscale scores on four dimensions of intimate partner abuse. It consists of 30 items presented in a six-point format requiring respondents to answer "never", "only once", "several times", "monthly", "weekly", or "daily" in twelve months. It assesses the following: severe combined abuse factor, emotional abuse factor, physical abuse factor, and the harassment factor. The CAS is made up of 4 subscales: severe combined abuse (SCA; 8 items, possible score 0-40); physical abuse (7 items, possible score 0-35); emotional abuse (11 items, possible score 0-55), and harassment (4 items, possible score 0-20). The subscale score was calculated and compared with a predetermined cut-off score for each subscale as shown below to determine whether they has suffered that abuse. A subscale score greater than the set score would determine that the respondent had experienced such abuse. The respondent was judged to have suffered an abuse if the overall total score was 7 and above. Data analysisThe data obtained were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 20 software (IBM Corp., Chicago, IL). Frequency tables, the chi-squared test (X2), and logistic regression analysis were used for categorical variables where applicable. The student's age (≤20 or > 20 years), marital status (married or single), year of education (≤ 3 or > 3 years), and social class (1 and 2, upper social class; 3, 4 and 5, lower social class) were reclassified for easy analysis. The partner's characteristics were also reclassified into ≤ 30 years and > 30 years. The test of significance was at a p-value < 0.05.


Estuarine intertidal areas are shaped by combined astronomical and meteorological forces. This paper reveals the relative importance of tide, surge, wind, and waves for the flow and sediment transport on large intertidal shoals. Results of an intensive field campaign have been used to validate a numerical model of the Roggenplaat intertidal shoal in the Eastern Scheldt Estuary, the Netherlands, in order to identify and quantify the importance of each of the processes over time and space. We show that its main tidal creeks are not the cause for the dominant direction of the net flow on the shoal. The tidal flow over the shoal is steered by the water level differences between the surrounding channels. Also during wind events, the tidal flow (enhanced by surge) is dominant in the creeks. In contrast, wind speeds of order 40 times the typical tidal flow velocity are sufficient to completely alter the flow direction and magnitude on an intertidal shoal. This has significant consequences for the sediment transport patterns. Apart from this wind-driven flow dominance during these events, the wind also increases the bed shear stress by waves. For the largest intertidal part of the Roggenplaat, only ∼1–10% of the yearly transport results from the 50% least windy tides, even if the shoal is artificially lowered half the tidal range. This dominance of energetic meteorological conditions in the transports matches with field observations, in which the migration of the creeks and high parts of the shoal are in line with the predominant wind direction.


Abstract Rationale: It is currently unknown how body size affects buoyancy in submerged helicopter escape. Method: Eight healthy males aged 39.6 ± 12.6 year (mean ± SD) with BMI 22.0–40.0 kg m−2 wearing a standard survival ('dry') suit undertook a normal venting manoeuvre and underwent 3D scanning to assess body volume (wearing the suit) before and after immersion in a swimming pool. Results: Immersion-induced volume loss averaged 14.4 ± 5.4 l, decreased with increasing dry density (mass volume−1) and theoretical buoyant force in 588 UK offshore workers was found to be 264 ± 46 and 232 ± 60 N using linear and power functions, respectively. Both approaches revealed heavier workers to have greater buoyant force. Discussion: While a larger sample may yield a more accurate buoyancy prediction, this study shows heavier workers are likely to have greater buoyancy. Without free-swimming capability to overcome such buoyancy, some individuals may possibly exceed the safe limit to enable escape from a submerged helicopter. Practitioner Summary: Air expulsion reduced total body volume of survival-suited volunteers following immersion by an amount inversely proportional to body size. When applied to 588 offshore workers, the predicted air loss suggested buoyant force to be greatest in the heaviest individuals, which may impede their ability to exit a submerged helicopter.


Paropsisterna variicollis, the eucalyptus variegated beetle, was first detected in New Zealand in 2016. It threatens a growing eucalyptus forestry sector through larvae and adults causing significant defoliation to important plantation species. This work aimed to clarify the identification and origin of the New Zealand incursion to inform selection of suitable biological control agent(s). Australian and New Zealand specimens from the Paropsisterna obovata-variicollis-cloelia species complex were analysed by PCR and sequencing of two genetic loci, cytochrome c subunit I (COI) and cytochrome b (Cyt b). Molecular analysis of both genetic regions showed three major clusters of diversity. Cluster 1, proposed as Paropsisterna variicollis, had maximum 1.3% genetic variation and was collected from New Zealand, Western Australia and from geographically diverse locations in eastern Australia. Taxonomic results identified distinctive phenotypes of other closely related beetle species, assisting in proposing Cluster 2 as Paropsisterna near decolorata and Cluster 3 as Paropsisterna agricola. Molecular results were compared to morphological structures on adult beetles.


There is no major study available of actual and projected
investment in computing by Tasmanian Government sources.
This Dissertation attempts to sketch a picture of the cost
centres involved in Tasmanian Government computing investments and
to identify trends and projected trends in that investment
picture. Chapter 2 provides the historical perspective on the
way in which computing has developed in the Tasmanian State
Service. Chapter 3 examines in detail actual and proposed
investment in computing from 1984/85. The majority of data is
taken from the Tasmanian State Service Agencies EDP Strategic
Plans, which are not published.
Chapter 4 examines the administrative controls and
management structures which have had an impact on the way in which
Agencies have made computing investment decisions. The risks and
exposures which these Agencies acknowledge exist, and those of
which they appear to be unaware, are examined.
In the final part of this Dissertation some proposals are
made to reorganise certain administrative structures which impact
on computing resources in the State Service. In addition, based
on the trends observed in the investment picture and the risks
acknowledged by the managers, certain proposals for staff
development are made.

The investment picture revealed from the examination of the
unpublished data indicates that around $17.7 million to $19.4
million will be spent on computing activities in the Tasmanian
State Service in 1986/87. Over the past three years, investment
in computing has been mainly proportioned between capital
equipment costs (18-33%), associated recurrent costs (34-14%) and
staffing costs (31-40%).
The study demonstrates that the trends in predictions
regarding non-specialist users requiring access to computer
systems will require significant improvements in staff
development, software ergonomics and capacity planning by DP
managers as well as policy redirections which appear to be largely
unrecognised at present.


In The Lees of Virginia, Paul Nagel chronicles seven generations of Lees, from the family founder Richard to General Robert E. Lee, covering over two hundred years of American history. We meet Thomas Lee, who dreamed of America as a continental empire. His daughter was Hannah Lee Corbin, a non-conformist in lifestyle and religion, while his son, Richard Henry Lee, was a tempestuous figure who wore black silk over a disfigured hand when he made the motion in Congress for Independence. Another of Thomas' sons, Arthur Lee, created a political storm by his accusations against Benjamin Franklin. Arthur's cousin was Light-Horse Harry Lee, a controversial cavalry officer in the Revolutionary War, whose wild real estate speculation led to imprisonment for debt and finally self-exile in the Caribbean. One of Harry's sons, Henry Lee, further disgraced the family by seducing his sister-in-law and frittering away Stratford, the Lees' ancestral home. Another son, however, became the family's redeeming figure--Robert E. Lee, a brilliant tactician who is still revered for his lofty character and military success. In these and numerous other portraits, Nagel discloses how, from 1640 to 1870, a family spirit united the Lees, making them a force in Virginian and American affairs. Paul Nagel is a leading chronicler of families prominent in our history. His Descent from Glory, a masterful narrative account of four generations of Adamses, was hailed by The New Yorker as "intelligent, tactful, and spiritually generous," and Pulitzer Prize-winning historian W.A. Swanberg, in the Chicago Sun-Times, called it "a magnificent embarrassment of biographical riches." Now, in The Lees of Virginia, Nagel brings his skills to bear on another major American family, taking readers inside the great estates of the Old Dominion and the turbulent lives of the Lee men and women.


Traditional consumer protection law responds with various forms of disclosure to market imperfections that are the consequence of consumers being imperfectly informed or unsophisticated. This regulation assumes that consumers can rationally act on the information that it is disclosure's goal to produce. Experimental results in psychology and behavorial economics question this rationality premise. The numerous reasoning defects consumers exhibit in the experiments would vitiate disclosure solutions if those defects also presented in markets. To assume that consumers behave as badly in markets as they do in the lab implies new regulatory responses. This Essay sets out the novel and difficult challenges that such "regulating for rationality" -- intervening to cure or to overcome cognitive error -- poses for regulators. Much of the novelty exists because the contracting choices of rational and irrational consumers often are observationally equivalent: both consumer types prefer the same contracts. Hence, the regulator seldom can infer from contract terms themselves that reasoning errors produced those terms. Rather, the regulator needs a theory of cognitive function that would permit him to predict when actual consumers would make the mistakes that laboratory subjects make: that is, to know which fraction of observed contracts are the product of bias rather than rational choice. The difficulties exist because the psychologists lack such a theory. Hence, cognitive based regulatory interventions often are poorly grounded. A particular concern is that consumers suffer from numerous biases, and not every consumer suffers from the same ones. Current theory cannot tell how these biases interact within the person and how markets aggregate differing biased consumer preferences. The Essay then makes three further claims. First, regulating for rationality should be more evidence based than regulating for traditional market imperfections: in the absence of a theory the regulator needs to see what actual people do. Second, when the facts are unobtainable or ambiguous regulators should assume that bias did not affect the consumer's contracting choice because the assumption is autonomy preserving, administerable and coherent. Third, disclosure regulation can ameliorate some reasoning errors. Hence, abandoning disclosure strategies in favor of substantive regulation sometimes would be premature.


Purpose:  The issue resource over-allocating is a big concern for project engineers in the process of scheduling project activities. Resource over-allocating drawback is frequently seen after scheduling of a project in practice which causes a schedule to be useless. Modifying an over-allocated schedule is very complicated and needs a lot of efforts and time. In this paper, a new and fast tracking method is proposed to schedule large scale projects which can help project engineers to schedule the project rapidly and with more confidence. Design/methodology/approach:  In this article, a forward approach for maximizing net present value (NPV) in multi-mode resource constrained project scheduling problem while assuming discounted positive cash flows (MRCPSP-DCF) is proposed. The progress payment method is used and all resources are considered as pre-emptible. The proposed approach maximizes NPV using unscheduled resources through resource calendar in forward mode. For this purpose, a Genetic Algorithm is applied to solve. Findings:  The findings show that the proposed method is an effective way to maximize NPV in MRCPSP-DCF problems while activity splitting is allowed. The proposed algorithm is very fast and can schedule experimental cases with 1000 variables and 100 resources in few seconds. The results are then compared with branch and bound method and simulated annealing algorithm and it is found the proposed genetic algorithm can provide results with better quality. Then algorithm is then applied for scheduling a hospital in practice. Originality/value:  The method can be used alone or as a macro in Microsoft Office Project® Software to schedule MRCPSP-DCF problems or to modify resource over-allocated activities after scheduling a project. This can help project engineers to schedule project activities rapidly with more accuracy in practice.


The Israeli legal system is unique in that it straddles the two otherwise opposing worlds of tradition and innovation. This creates an enigma for the comparatist, making the exploration of this system an onerous and challenging task. The author wishes to maintain that the system in question is highly innovative and ascribes this quality to  the proactive character of the Israeli Supreme Court, whose activism has had a major impact on the character of the domestic system as a whole. While the author explores the reasons why this has been the case, one of his main concerns in this paper will be to examine the innovative character of the Israeli Supreme Court per se , in comparison with equivalent courts in other parts of the world. In addition the author will seek to establish inter alia the character of the Israeli legal system by focusing on the three different elements that co-exist in the Israeli socio-legal structure (the Jewish element vis-a-vis the Arab element; the Liberal element vis-a-vis the Orthodox element within the Jewish community; and the Civilian element vis-a-vis the Common law element). The author wishes to posit that the amalgamation of different legal and cultural traditions in Israel created a sui generis state of affairs for the legal system as a whole. This results in an overall systemic-methodological amalgamation which does not occur elsewhere in the world. The article concludes that the enigmatic and innovative characteristics of the Israeli legal system derive from the novel way in which the legal mix has occurred in this system (as opposed to the ingredients of the elements in the mix). In this respect, Israel may have contributed much to the reinvigoration of the modern comparative law agenda, and it may continue to do so in the future, as the system is not one of legal stasis (a mixed system) but one of legal kinesis (a mixing system).


Genome‐wide association studies (GWAS) offer an excellent opportunity to identify the genetic variants underlying complex human diseases. Successful utilization of this approach requires a large sample size to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with subtle effects. Meta‐analysis is a cost‐efficient means to achieve large sample size by combining data from multiple independent GWAS; however, results from studies performed on different populations can be variable due to various reasons, including varied linkage equilibrium structures as well as gene‐gene and gene‐environment interactions. Nevertheless, one should expect effects of the SNP are more similar between similar populations than those between populations with quite different genetic and environmental backgrounds. Prior information on populations of GWAS is often not considered in current meta‐analysis methods, rendering such analyses less optimal for the detecting association. This article describes a test that improves meta‐analysis to incorporate variable heterogeneity among populations. The proposed method is remarkably simple in computation and hence can be performed in a rapid fashion in the setting of GWAS. Simulation results demonstrate the validity and higher power of the proposed method over conventional methods in the presence of heterogeneity. As a demonstration, we applied the test to real GWAS data to identify SNPs associated with circulating insulin‐like growth factor I concentrations.


ISSN : 2230-7109(Online) | ISSN : 2230-9543(Print) Abstract The topology control is a vital process to maximize the network lifetime of wireless sensor networks. In this paper, we present a distributed topology algorithm with transmission power adjustment based on optimal no. of neighbours to raise the network energy- efficiency and the network throughput and to cope with the trade-off between the energy balance and energy efficiency, a non-linear optimization problem is formulated to find the optimal route nodes and their various transmission ranges. In the algorithm, every node can adjust its transmission power level and calculate its optimal transmission power according to the optimal number of neighbours, and a virtual clustering scheme is presented which is based on optimal transmission power for network topology control, where the network connectivity is also guaranteed. This scheme can achieve energy consumption balance and high efficiency at the same time.


The forest tree species Khaya senegalensis (Desr.) A. Juss. occurs in a belt across 20 African countries from Senegal-Guinea to Sudan-Uganda where it is a highly important resource. However, it is listed as Vulnerable (IUCN 2015-3). Since introduction in northern Australia around 1959, the species has been planted widely, yielding high-value products. The total area of plantations of the species in Australia exceeds 15,000 ha, mostly planted in the Northern Territory since 2006, and includes substantial areas across 60-70 woodlots and industrial plantations established in north-eastern Queensland since the early-1990s and during 2005-2007 respectively. Collaborative conservation and tree improvement by governments began in the Northern Territory and Queensland in 2001 based on provenance and other trials of the 1960s-1970s. This work has developed a broad base of germplasm in clonal seed orchards, hedge gardens and trials (clone and progeny).

Several of the trials were established collaboratively on private land. Since the mid-2000s, commercial growers have introduced large numbers of provenance-bulk and individual-tree seedlots to establish industrial plantations and trials, several of the latter in collaboration with the Queensland Government. Provenance bulks (>140) and families (>400) from 17 African countries are established in Australia, considered the largest genetic base of the species in a single country outside Africa. Recently the annual rate of industrial planting of the species in Australia has declined, and R&D has been suspended by governments and reduced by the private sector. However, new commercial plantings in the Northern Territory and Queensland are proposed. In domesticating a species, the strategic importance of a broad genetic base is well known. The wide range of first- and advanced-generation germplasm of the species established in northern Australia and documented in this paper provides a sound basis for further domestication and industrial plantation and woodlot expansion, when investment conditions are favourable


The recently proposed Nanomagnet-based logic (NML) represents an innovative way to assemble electronic logic circuits. The low power consumption, combined with the possibility of maintaining the information stored without power supply, allows us to design low power digital circuits far beyond the limitations of CMOS technology. This paper is focused on the key logic block of NML, the majority voter (MV). It is thoroughly analyzed through detailed micromagnetic simulations, changing the geometrical parameters, and detecting logic behavior, timing performance, and energy dissipation. Our analysis enables us to derive important results, substantially enhancing the practical knowledge of NML. First, we demonstrate that NML circuits can be effectively fabricated not only using electron beam lithography, but also using high-end optical lithography without loosing performance. This is a promising opportunity for the future of this technology. Second, we demonstrate the robustness of the MV considering process variations and extracting useful guidelines for its technological implementation. Third, we show how, and how much, the alteration of magnets sizes and distances affect timing and energy consumption. Finally, fourth, we outline the problematic fabrication of the gate with real clock wires, and propose a modification that enables the fabrication of working gates, remarkably enhancing the possibilities of this technology.


Contingent claims theory has shown that because of limited liability in bankruptcy, there are embedded options in the plain vanilla stock, bonds, and other securities issued by a firm that affect their values. When a firm issues claims that are themselves options on some underlying asset, the various sources of optionality interact with one another. For example, if the written option gets too deep in the money, the firm will have to default on its obligation. This places an effective cap on the potential payoff to the option holder. The impact on the value of subordinated debt becomes particularly complex. In this article, Episcopos clarifies how the values of corporate securities are affected when a firm's capital structure includes a significant short option position.


Introduction Status epilepticus (SE) can be life-threatening in epilepsy. For some people however, SE is their first presentation of epilepsy and it is unclear whether their prognosis differs from people with pre-existing epilepsy and SE. Methods Using the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) databank, we scrutinised primary care records in Wales for patients who have had an episode of SE. In order to better understand the prognosis of epilepsy following SE we looked at linked co-morbidity and mortality records. Results Since 1991 there have been 2.9/100 000 episodes of SE recorded in Wales. 732 people were identified as having SE and there were 174 deaths recorded; 15.5% were within 6 months of SE. There were 13 potential cases of SUDEP. 12.8% of people who first presented in SE (and later died) had epilepsy as a cause of death compared to 3.1% of those who had pre-existing epilepsy prior to SE (p>0.02). Brain tumours were 2.5 times more people common in people with SE as their first presentation of epilepsy (n=10, 3.6%). More than seven times more people with epilepsy had a change of medication a month before SE (32%) than people who had SE without a history of epilepsy (4%; p>0.0001). Discussion This nationwide informatics study has identified that SE as a first presentation of epilepsy is associated with an increased risk of SUDEP although not all cause mortality. We believe that SE occurring from pre-existing epilepsy may be triggered by poor medication concordance or a change in drug regimen, rather than a new symptomatic cause such as tumour or stroke.


Glucocorticoids modulate brain function and behaviour through different mechanisms. Although classical effects are mediated through intracellular receptors that modulate gene transcription, recent evidence supports the existence of rapid, nongenomic steroid effects through the neuronal membrane. In this study, we explored possible rapid behavioural effects of corticosterone in the rat, which could provide a model to characterize further the mechanisms involved in rapid corticosteroid nongenomic actions. We found that a corticosterone injection, at doses (2.5 or 5 mg/kg) that mimic plasma concentrations produced by substantial stress, rapidly increases (within 7.5 min of its systemic administration) the locomotor response displayed by rats in a novel environment (activity cage). A lower dose of 1 mg/kg failed to induce this effect. In addition, corticosterone failed to increase locomotion when administered to rats that had been previously exposed to the activity cage. Corticosterone‐induced increased locomotion in a novelty situation was not counteracted by either the intracerebroventricular administration of the protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide, or by the intracerebroventricular administration of specific antagonists for each type of intracellular corticosteroid receptor, i.e. RU28318, a mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist and RU38486, a glucocorticoid receptor antagonist. Further studies supported the viability of the receptor antagonists to display an anti‐corticosteroid action interfering, as previously reported, with the behavioural swimming test. Therefore, the rapid actions of corticosterone in locomotor activity described here, which appear to be nongenomic, might provide a model for future research on the elucidation of the mechanisms involved in steroid‐membrane interactions.


Navigation structure and user familiarity are critical for user satisfaction, yet the mediating mechanisms by which they affect satisfaction remain unclear, especially from a cognitive perspective. To extend understanding of the drivers of user satisfaction with a website, this study focuses on the mediating roles of cognitive load and performance outcomes (in the form of efficiency and accuracy), according to a cognitive cost–benefit framework and cognitive load theory. The hypotheses were tested with data from a field quasi-experiment among 238 participants using two websites. The results indicated that cognitive load and performance outcomes fully mediated the effect of user familiarity on user satisfaction, and that cognitive load partially mediated the impact of navigation structure. In addition, the mediating effect of cognitive load appeared stronger than that of performance outcomes. Overall, the cognitive cost–benefit framework sheds light on the underlying influence processes and mechanisms by which navigation structure and user familiarity affect user satisfaction. The findings reveal that costs might have more profound influences on user satisfaction in an information-seeking context than benefits do.


The development of organic electronic and photonic devices increasingly requires the development of micro- and nano-structured morphologies, which in turn require the development of both prototyping and scalable patterning methods.
This thesis presents investigations which explore and develop unconventional patterning techniques for a variety of conjugated polymers and organic molecules, using scanning near-field optical lithography (SNOL), scanning thermal lithography (SThL) and molecular self-assembly. Optimised formation of organic nanostructures is demonstrated, at resolutions which equal or better the current state of the art, with patterning resolution for isolated structures below 60nm for SNOL and 30nm for SThL. SThL in particular is demonstrated as a technique which can achieve serial write-speeds of over 100 μm/s, with significant potential for up-scaling. Furthermore, arbitrarily defined two-dimensional large-area nanostructures up to 20 × 20 μm are demonstrated using SNOL while maintaining both high resolution and the integrity of the probe. The nanostructures fabricated in the course of this work, and others, are characterised using both optical and topographic techniques, primarily atomic force microscopy and near-field microscopy.
The detailed formation mechanisms for structures fabricated using SNOL via an in-situ conversion route are systematically investigated and contrasted with other formation routes, resulting in a comprehensive account of the factors affecting structure morphology. In addition, the optimised nanostructures achieved in this work are shown, within this context, to be very close to best achievable with an apertured scanning near-field system.


As the nature of a workforce changes over time, one broadly-defined group of workers diminishes in numbers while another group increases in numbers. For example, during the period 1890-1910, the major proportion of the workforce in the United States shifted from agriculture to industrial production (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1975). Figure 1 presents the concept. Relentless technological developments gave rise to new job classifications and to increased employment opportunities in industrial production. At the same time, technological developments diminished employment opportunities in another field, in this case, agriculture. Over the long term, then, one might expect that demand for groups of occupations will increase over time, but will be expected to decline when that employment sector is eclipsed by yet another employment sector, driven by a new technological wave. The intersection of the two curves charting the demand for agricultural occupations and industrial occupations occurred during a time of rapid societal change, which was, in turn, a significant impetus for major educational change. Moreover, because these times of change have historical precedents, they may have a relatively high degree of predictability. Indeed, Toffler (1990) suggested that recent events are shaped by "distinct patterns . . . [and] identifiable forces" that once understood allow us to "cope strategically, rather than haphazardly . . ." (p. xvii). To explore the hypothesis that educational ferment is a naturally occurring phenomena at the juncture of technological ages, selected economic transition points will be juxtaposed with developments in the evolving field of technology education. From this perspective, the recently-recognized shift in


We have observed six clouds along the line of sight toward W49A using the Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite and several ground-based observatories. The ortho-H2O 110 → 101 and OH (1665 and 1667 MHz) transitions are observed in absorption, whereas the low-J CO, 13CO, and C18O lines, as well as the [C I] 3P1-3P0 transition, are seen in emission. The emission lines allow us to determine the gas density (n ~ 1500-3000 cm-3) and CO column densities [N(CO) ~ 7.9 × 1015-2.8 × 1017 cm-2] using a standard large velocity gradient analysis. By using both the o-H218O and o-H2O absorption lines, we are able to constrain the column-averaged o-H2O abundances in each line-of-sight cloud to within about an order of magnitude. Assuming the standard N(H2)/N(CO) ratio of 104, we find N(o-H2O)/N(H2) = 8.1 × 10-8 to 4 × 10-7 for three clouds with optically thin water lines. In three additional clouds, the H2O lines are saturated, so we have used observations of the H218O ground-state transition to find upper limits to the water abundance of 8.2 × 10-8 to 1.5 × 10-6. We measure the OH abundance from the average of the 1665 and 1667 MHz observations and find N(OH)/N(H2) = 2.3 × 10-7 to 1.1 × 10-6. The o-H2O and OH abundances are similar to those determined for line-of-sight water absorption features toward W51 and Sgr B2 but are higher than those seen from water emission lines in molecular clouds. However, the clouds toward W49 have lower ratios of OH relative to H2O column densities than are predicted by simple models, which assume that dissociative recombination is the primary formation pathway for OH and H2O. Building on the 2002 work of Neufeld and coworkers, we present photochemistry models including additional chemical effects, which can also explain the observed OH and H2O column densities, as well as the observed H2O/CO abundance ratios.


This paper outlines the production of monthly house price indices (HPIs) for New Zealand produced using data from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) using three alternative methodologies. The database provided by REINZ is a rich unit-record sales dataset with information on price, location, valuation, and property characteristics (such as the number of bedrooms and the floor area). We use this data to produce HPIs based on three well-established and widely adopted methodologies: 1) sales-price to appraisal ratio (SPAR); 2) hedonic regression; and 3) repeat sales. All three methods are found to produce credible-looking indices, which match the turning points and well-established cyclical properties of New Zealand's existing house price statistics. As a benchmarking exercise, the three candidate indices are evaluated alongside a simple median and a stratified median index. Applying a range of criteria to assess index performance, we find that all three alternative candidate methodologies out-perform the simple median and the stratified median methodologies, with the SPAR method performing best.


A mysterious orange egg has fallen into the woods. "It's a sun egg!" declares the elf who finds it nestled on the forest floor. Soon she and her friends find out what it really is, but not before the little elf goes off on one of the best adventures she has ever had.


We review severe constraints on asymmetric bosonic dark matter based on observations of old neutron stars. Under certain conditions, dark matter particles in the form of asymmetric bosonic WIMPs can be effectively trapped onto nearby neutron stars, where they can rapidly thermalize and concentrate in the core of the star. If some conditions are met, the WIMP population can collapse gravitationally and form a black hole that can eventually destroy the star. Based on the existence of old nearby neutron stars, we can exclude certain classes of dark matter candidates.


Background. The mermithid nematode Romanomermis iyengari is one of several natural control alternatives to synthetic pesticides for mosquito suppression. The commonly used mass rearing procedure of R. iyengari involves the use of coarse sand as a substrate for nematode maturation and oviposition. The coarse sand technique gives excellent nematode productivity in North America. However, under West African climatic conditions, this technique generates relatively lesser amounts of infectious worms. We evaluated coconut coir fibres as a replacement for coarse sand to improve yields in largescale production of R. iyengari in Benin, West Africa. Materials and Methods. Culex quinquefasciatus was the host for the nematodes, and mosquitoes were blood-fed on chickens. Four days after blood feeding, egg rafts were collected and transferred into trays, each containing 2 l of water. The mosquito larvae were fed with fish food. When the mosquito larvae reached the second instar, preparasites (J2) were added (3 J2/larva) to the incubation trays. Eight days after infection, post-parasitic juveniles were separated from the water containing dead mosquito larvae and other debris using sieves and needles; 2 g of them were deposited in containers with coarse sand or coconut coir fibres and water. Three hours later, the water was drained, the jars covered and stored for eight weeks, after which J2 abundance was determined, using a total of 320 containers for each substrate. The abundance of J2 preparasites was also assessed 3-5 months after storage to determine the impact of long-term storage on the J2 yield. Results. After 2 months storage, 2 g of post-parasites (~457 females and 583 males) yielded an average of 559,300±6094 J2 and 155,818±4427 J2 per container for coconut fibres and for coarse sand, respectively. During long-term storage, yields of J2 on coconut fibres substrate slowly decreased from 442,180±9322 J2 (3 months storage) to 163,632±12,416 J2 per container (5 months storage). On coarse sand substrate, the yield was relatively low and decreased from 49,812±1200 J2 at 3 months storage to 3046±229 J2 at 5 months storage. Conclusion. Under West African climatic conditions, coconut coir fibres gave significantly higher preparasitic nematode yields than the coarse sand technique.


Teachers' knowledge and values can hinder climate education Although more than 95% of active climate scientists attribute recent global warming to human causes (1, 2) and most of the general public accepts that climate change is occurring, only about half of U.S. adults believe that human activity is the predominant cause (3), which is the lowest among 20 nations polled in 2014 (4). We examine how this societal debate affects science classrooms and find that, whereas most U.S. science teachers include climate science in their courses, their insufficient grasp of the science may hinder effective teaching. Mirroring some actors in the societal debate over climate change, many teachers repeat scientifically unsupported claims in class. Greater attention to teachers' knowledge, but also values, is critical.


We present a novel probabilistic gathering algorithms for agents that can only detect the presence of other agents in front or behind them. The agents act in the plane and are identical and indistinguishable, oblivious and lack any means of direct communication. They do not have a common frame of reference in the plane and choose their orientation (direction of possible motion) at random. The analysis of the gathering process assumes that the agents act synchronously in selecting random orientations that remain fixed during each unit time-interval. Two algorithms are discussed. The first one assumes discrete jumps based on the sensing results given the randomly selected motion direction and in this case extensive experimental results exhibit probabilistic clustering into a circular region with radius equal to the step-size in time proportional to the number of agents. The second algorithm assumes agents with continuous sensing and motion, and in this case we can prove gathering into a very small circular region in finite expected time.


This article explores the usefulness of a usage-based constructional approach to syntactic change. Case constructions are particularly interesting data in this respect, because of their prominent semantic features. A corpus study of the history of Old Russian possessive constructions is taken as an example of a change involving syntactic constructions which is difficult to describe well within established models of diachronic syntax and cannot feasibly be classified as grammaticalisation. Instead, the changes are best viewed as an interlocking set of schematisations and deschematisations, accompanied by extensions and narrowings of the meanings of several of the constructions within the possessive semantic field.


The ubiquitous technique of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy suffers from relatively low sensitivity due to the low polarization of nuclei. For decades, the technique of dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) has been harnessed to increase the sensitivity of NMR, enabling detection of low abundance nuclei such as 17O and elucidation of protein structures. Yet, the catalogue of DNP agents today is limited to organic radical species, accompanied by a handful of metal ions (Cr3+, Mn2+, and Gd3+). This study significantly expands the scope and catalogue of DNP with the first demonstration of amplification of nuclear spin polarization at a set distance from a transition metal center (V4+) that has g-values significantly varied from 2 and anisotropic EPR line that is more than 3GHz broad.We showed that 1H NMR signal enhancements of up to 33 can be achieved at 6.9T field and 4K temperature using a home-built DNP instrumentation that allows microwave irradiation over a frequency range of more than 10 GHz with pulse shaping capabilities by arbitrary waveform generator. A series of systematically designed vanadyl complexes, with V4+-1H distances in range 4.0 Å to 13.6 Å, was used to trace the polarization pathway of DNP and determine the size of the spin-diffusion barrier.


More effective stewardship of our resources contributes to the security, environmental sustainability, and economic well-being of the nation. Buildings present one of the best opportunities to economically reduce energy consumption and limit greenhouse gas emissions. Geothermal heat pumps (GHPs), sometimes called ground-source heat pumps, have been proven capable of producing large reductions in energy use and peak demand in buildings. However, GHPs have received little attention at the policy level as an important component of a national strategy. Have policymakers mistakenly overlooked GHPs, or are GHPs simply unable to make a major contribution to the national goals for various reasons? This brief study was undertaken at DOE's request to address this conundrum. The scope of the study includes determining the status of global GHP markets and the status of the GHP industry and technology in the United States, assembling previous estimates of GHP energy savings potential, identifying key barriers to application of GHPs, and identifying actions that could accelerate market adoption of GHPs. The findings are documented in this report along with conclusions and recommendations.


Base excision repair (BER) is the major pathway for the repair of oxidized bases and apurinic/apyrimidinic (abasic; AP) sites produced by reaction with reactive oxygen/nitrogen species (ROS/RNS). These metabolites are generated spontane-ously by endogenous cellular processes and also by environmental agents. Because most of these lesions are promutagenic, linked to diverse disease-associated somatic mutations, as well as heritable single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the normal human population, their prompt repair is warranted. Impairment of repair leading to mutation, a hallmark of cancer, underscores the essentiality of BER for maintaining genome integrity in humans and other mammals. In mammals, repair of oxidized bases and other BER substrates is initiated by DNA glycosylases (DGs), which excise the damaged bases and cleave the DNA strands at the resulting AP sites, followed by sequential end processing, gap-filling DNA synthesis, and ligation. In vitro BER performed with naked DNA substrates has been extensively studied, which delineates its basic mechanistic steps and subpathways. However, recent interest is directed to unraveling BER in cell chromatin, including its regulation via posttranslational modifications (PTMs), which occurs possibly in concert with nucleosome remodeling. Emerging reports on various PTMs of BER enzymes indicate that the PTMs, while dispensable for the enzymatic activity, regulate overall repair by modulating interactions with other repair proteins and chromatin factors, assembly of BER complexes, as well as turnover of the proteins, and may ultimately dictate the cellular phenotype. Here, we discuss recent advances in the BER field by reviewing the PTMs and how they regulate BER in chromatin.


Student plagiarism is a growing problem within Australian universities and abroad. Potentially exacerbating this situation, research indicates that students' attitudes toward plagiarism are typically more permissive and lenient than the policies of their tertiary institutions. There has been suggestion that this is especially so in Asian countries relative to Western countries; however, very little research has sought to empirically validate this suggestion. Moreover, existing research in this area has typically compared international and domestic students studying in Western countries. As yet, no studies have directly compared Chinese and Australian university students' attitudes toward plagiarism, as they exist within their native countries. Rasch analysis/differential item functioning were conducted to contrast 131 Australian and 173 Chinese undergraduate university students' attitudes towards plagiarism. Results indicated distinct cross-cultural differences in aspects of students' plagiarism attitudes. Regardless of ethnic background, the results highlight undergraduate students' typical lack of understanding of plagiarism and plagiarist behaviours.


Pore structure in rocks at reservoir pressures can affect strongly elastic wave velocities. For a reservoir where the fluid type and lithology are known, elastic wave velocity V can be described by a two-parameter model in terms of porosity and a pore structure parameter referred to as the frame flexibility factor (γ). Using this two-parameter elastic model V(, γ), the concept of pore structure type (PST) is introduced to quantify the pore structure effects on elastic properties of sedimentary rocks. To illustrate the concept, three PSTs are defined and they have their distinct characteristics on elastic wave propagation. Through solving exact Zoeppritz equations and elastic finite-element modelling, this study indicates that it may be feasible to detect pore structure variations in reservoir rocks from seismic data via amplitude variation with offset (AVO) analysis. AVO interpretation aimed at fluid detection can be complicated where the presence of large pore structure variations is expected because the effects of pore structure on wave propagation can be much stronger than the fluid factor, especially in carbonate rocks.


The process of study management for learners is concerned with the pursuit of a specific learning goal using different resources over a certain time period. It is considered to be an important and effective method for learners to plan and identify what they must do and by when they must complete it.

Many learning systems do not offer sufficient individuality or personalization for the user and the existence of internal and external interruptions deter the learner from achieving their desired goals. This thesis discusses the design and development of the Interactive Study Guide (ISG); an application that allows learners to personalize their own study plan and motivates them to partake in study by providing guidelines from the system and a timing method known as the Pomodoro technique.

It offers an interactive environment that aims to assist the learner throughout their study process and motivates them to achieve their personal goals. This thesis provides a state of the art pertaining to all of the relevant areas of the application, the design and implementation procedures taken and the perceived benefits that this system has after the necessary testing. Detailed testing was carried out on the Interactive Study Guide upon completion and the results along with the conclusions are covered in detail in this thesis.


We studied the effects of the calcium channel blocker nicardipine on regional tissue Ca2+, Na+, K+, and water shifts in the brains of seven Sprague-Dawley rats after permanent occlusions of the middle cerebral artery. We also assessed the entry of [14C]nicardipine into the brains of five rats; the highest concentrations of [14C]nicardipine were in the infarcted area. Nicardipine treatment significantly reduced Ca2+ accumulation in the middle cerebral artery territory by 60% compared with six untreated rats 6 hours after arterial occlusion. Eight 125-micrograms/kg boluses of nicardipine given every 30 minutes starting 5 minutes after arterial occlusion also significantly reduced the Na+ and K+ shifts in the middle cerebral artery territory by 40% and 50%, respectively, 6 hours after arterial occlusion. Nicardipine appears to reduce Ca2+ accumulation more than it reduces Na+ and water accumulation and K+ loss. Our results suggest that a calcium channel blocker can protect brain tissues in a model of focal c...


The main objective of this thesis is to develop a system to automatically segment and label a variety of real-life documents written in different languages. The main idea is to partition the whole document into different subimages and assign to each of them one of two labels: text or non-text (including graphics); and then identify the text, as one of three categories, Roman; Ideographic, or Arabic script. The whole process consists of several steps. For instance, to detect the skew angle of the document, we use the Hough transform and the most frequently occurring local maximum. Moreover, in order to segment the page into regions, we have developed a novel approach based on diagonal scanning and node-edge orientation. Then, text and graphic components are also isolated using the geometric configuration of the connected components. Next, the textual components are segmented into lines using the projection profile: and finally the script is classified into one of the three categories mentioned above using the bounding boxes and horizontal projection. The system has been tested on 215 samples of diverse document types from many sources such as journal articles, magazines, newspapers, facsimiles, and office correspondence. These testing samples include low quality document images with different types of distortion; they also contain upside-down, skewed and low resolution images. The system classifies 93.5% of the script type correctly and 6.5% of these documents incorrectly


An audio fingerprint is a compact yet very robust representation of the perceptually relevant parts of an audio signal. It can be used for content-based audio identification, even when the audio is severely distorted. Audio compression changes the fingerprint slightly. We show that these small fingerprint differences due to compression can be used to estimate the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the compressed audio file compared to the original. This is a useful content-based distortion estimate, when the original, uncompressed audio file is unavailable. The method uses the audio fingerprints only. For stochastic signals distorted by additive noise, an analytical expression is obtained for the average fingerprint difference as function of the SNR level. This model is based on an analysis of the Philips robust hash (PRH) algorithm. We show that for uncorrelated signals, the bit error rate (BER) is approximately inversely proportional to the square root of the SNR of the signal. This model is extended to correlated signals and music. For an experimental verification of our proposed model, we divide the field of audio fingerprinting algorithms into three categories. From each category, we select an algorithm that is representative for that category. Experiments show that the behavior predicted by the stochastic model for the PRH also holds for the two other algorithms.


This
study aimed at investigating the Effectiveness of Mantle of the Expert in
creative thinking Skills among the 7th Graders. The study conducted
on a sample of 7th Graders at Kober Secondary Boys School and Upper
Kober Elementary Girls School. The study sample consisted of (100) students split
into two groups (experimental and control). The researcher adopting the
Torrance test for creative thinking the verbal image "A" by examining
the tests used in the Ristow study (1988), Edwards and Baldov (1987) study, and
designing a teacher book for the (engineering and measurement) unit according
to the integration between the strategies of the mantle of the expert and role
playing.

This study adopted
quasi-experimental design. It included two groups (experimental and controlled)
in two branches (males and females) for each group. The controlled group was
taught by using the traditional method whereas the experimental group by the
mantle of the expert. The data analyzed using (ANCOVA) test to measure the
differences in the development of creative thinking between the control and
experimental groups.

The Conclusions showed
that there are statistically significant differences in the mean scores of the
creative thinking test due to the way, gender and interaction between them.

Based on the Conclusions
of the study, the researcher recommends the need to use the mantles of the
expert in the teaching of mathematics.


A fully integrated model of a photoelectrochemical cell for water electrolysis is applied to the case of light-absorbing particles embedded in a membrane separator. Composition of the product gases is shown to be one critical measure of device performance. Not only must the composition be kept outside the explosive window for mixtures of H2 and O2, but also product purity is a concern. For the absorber-in-membrane geometry and the model assumptions used here, results show purely water-saturated H2 on the cathode side and water-saturated O2 on the anode side. Since it is possible to design devices that violate these assumptions, it should not be assumed that a polymer separator or an absorber-in-membrane geometry will be effective in preventing explosive mixtures in all cases. Net H2 collected, iH2,net, is the second essential performance metric, and it is shown to differ significantly from the more commonly reported total H2 produced and operating current density. Schemes which co-evolve H2 and O2 violate the first metric and do not provide the second. A composite of triple-junction silicon absorbers in a Nafion membrane is shown to have an optimum thickness of 30 μm, dependent on the properties of the light absorber. Varying membrane properties reveals a tradeoff between conductivity, κm, and gas permeabilities, ψH2 and ψO2, that can potentially be exploited differently than in a fuel cell. Modulating the relative humidity (RH) is insufficient. The maximum iH2,net is calculated to be 6.97 mA cm−2 at RH = 30% relative to a value of 6.92 mA cm−2 at RH = 100%. The model identifies target material properties for new polymers. If ψ is dropped one order of magnitude below that of Nafion (ψ/ψNafion = 0.1), the optimum value for iH2,net increases by 63.5%. For ψ/ψNafion = 0.01, the optimum iH2,net increases by 73.5%, which compares favorably to the 74.5% improvement that would result if Nafion were made impermeable (ψ/ψNafion = 0). Meanwhile, κm can drop to a value of 1.2 × 10−3 S cm−1 (two orders of magnitude below liquid-equilibrated Nafion) with less than a 5% decline in iH2,net.


Presented here is an experimental investigation of the effects of several surfactant monolayers on evaporation driven by natural convection in the air above a water surface. Experiments were performed in a controlled laboratory setting with tanks of heated water for the following cases: (1) a clean water surface, and for surfaces covered with monolayers of (2) oleyl alcohol, (3) stearic acid, and (4) stearyl alcohol. Evaporation rates were measured using a laser-based method, and the Sherwood and Rayleigh numbers, Sh and Ra, were computed from the data. Power law scalings of the form Sh = B·Ram were developed for each case which yielded, essentially, m = 1/3 for all four surface conditions. The oleyl alcohol and stearic acid conditions give essentially the same value for B as for the clean surface case. For stearyl alcohol, B is smaller than for all other surface conditions; this result is attributed to the ability of the stearyl alcohol monolayer to inhibit evaporation by blocking the passage of water molecules through the monolayer: the barrier effect. The surface temperature is measured in this work enabling a separation of the effect of surfactants on evaporation due to a reduction in surface temperature from their effect on evaporation due to a true barrier effect. This has not been accomplished heretofore. © 2012 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 59: 303–315, 2013


Abstract. The small reservoir of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (pCO2) that modulates climate through the greenhouse effect reflects a delicate balance between large fluxes of sources and sinks. The major long-term source of CO2 is global outgassing from sea-floor spreading, subduction, hotspot activity, and metamorphism; the ultimate sink is through weathering of continental silicates and deposition of carbonates. Most carbon cycle models are driven by changes in the source flux scaled to variable rates of ocean floor production, but ocean floor production may not be distinguishable from being steady since 180 Ma. We evaluate potential changes in sources and sinks of CO2 for the past 120 Ma in a paleogeographic context. Our new calculations show that decarbonation of pelagic sediments by Tethyan subduction contributed only modestly to generally high pCO2 levels from the Late Cretaceous until the early Eocene, and thus shutdown of this CO2 source with the collision of India and Asia at the early Eocene climate optimum at around 50 Ma was inadequate to account for the large and prolonged decrease in pCO2 that eventually allowed the growth of significant Antarctic ice sheets by around 34 Ma. Instead, variation in area of continental basalt terranes in the equatorial humid belt (5° S–5° N) seems to be a dominant factor controlling how much CO2 is retained in the atmosphere via the silicate weathering feedback. The arrival of the highly weatherable Deccan Traps in the equatorial humid belt at around 50 Ma was decisive in initiating the long-term slide to lower atmospheric pCO2, which was pushed further down by the emplacement of the 30 Ma Ethiopian Traps near the equator and the southerly tectonic extrusion of SE Asia, an arc terrane that presently is estimated to account for 1/4 of CO2 consumption from all basaltic provinces that account for ~1/3 of the total CO2 consumption by continental silicate weathering (Dessert et al., 2003). A negative climate-feedback mechanism that (usually) inhibits the complete collapse of atmospheric pCO2 is the accelerating formation of thick cation-deficient soils that retard chemical weathering of the underlying bedrock. Nevertheless, equatorial climate seems to be relatively insensitive to pCO2 greenhouse forcing and thus with availability of some rejuvenating relief as in arc terranes or thick basaltic provinces, silicate weathering in this venue is not subject to a strong negative feedback, providing an avenue for ice ages. The safety valve that prevents excessive atmospheric pCO2 levels is the triggering of silicate weathering of continental areas and basaltic provinces in the temperate humid belt. Excess organic carbon burial seems to have played a negligible role in atmospheric pCO2 over the Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic.


Large-scale e-commercial platforms in the real-world usually contain various recommendation scenarios (domains) to meet demands of diverse customer groups.Multi-Domain Recommendation (MDR), which aims to jointly improve recommendations on all domains, has attracted increasing attention from practitioners and researchers. Existing MDR methods often employ a shared structure to leverage reusable features for all domains and several specific parts to capture domain-specific information. However, data from different domains may conflict with each other and cause shared parameters to stay at a compromised position on the optimization landscape. This could deteriorate the overall performance. Despite the specific parameters are separately learned for each domain, they can easily overfit on data sparsity domains. Furthermore, data distribution differs across domains, making it challenging to develop a general model that can be applied to all circumstances. To address these problems, we propose a novel model agnostic learning method, namely MAMDR, for the multi-domain recommendation. Specifically, we first propose a Domain Negotiation (DN) strategy to alleviate the conflict between domains and learn better shared parameters. Then, we develop a Domain Regularization (DR) scheme to improve the generalization ability of specific parameters by learning from other domains. Finally, we integrate these components into a unified framework and present MAMDR which can be applied to any model structure to perform multi-domain recommendation. MAMDR is scalable and has been deployed in Taobao. Extensive experiments on various real-world datasets and online applications demonstrate both the effectiveness and generalizability of MAMDR.


Anycast has become a valuable tool for network operators. It plays a vital role in making the DNS root system globally highly available and resilient to stresses from e.g. DDoS attacks. Content delivery networks use it to direct clients to local caches, and to absorb attack traffic. Yet managing an anycast network is far from simple. Earlier work studying a DDoS attack on the DNS root system, for example, shows that even highly distributed anycast networks can be overwhelmed.To manage an anycast service, it is vital to know the catchment of points of presence (PoPs) of the service. In earlier work, we introduced "Verfploeter" a novel active measurement method to determine anycast catchments using ICMP messages. Unlike previously existing approaches, Verfploeter is unbiased, accurate and can be executed directly by the anycast operator without the need for external vantage points. We demonstrated the efficacy of Verfploeter on a testbed and small anycast service.In this paper, we take the next step and deploy Verfploeter on one of the world's largest anycast networks, the Cloudflare CDN with 192 PoPs worldwide. We perform real-world case studies on network planning (what happens when PoPs are switched on or off), troubleshooting (reachability issues of an anycasted prefix) and security (detecting spoofed attack traffic). These case studies show that Verfploeter is highly suitable for such a large-scale operation and gives operators vital insights that allow them to improve network management practices of their anycast service.