Irradiation of molecules by X-rays leads to photo- emission of electons, this forming the basis of XPS or ESCA spectroscopy. The electrons remaining In the molecule experience an effective Increase In nuclear charge accompanying photolonization, and undergo a "relaxation" process. The energy associated with this (the relaxation energy) affects not only the intensity and shape of the experimentally measured peak, but also its position (or binding energy) to a significant extent. By means of well-established quantum mechanical methods. It Is possible to calculate theoretically both binding energies and relaxation energies for core-electron photoionizatlon. Specifically, ab initio LCAO MO SCF calculations within the Hartree-Fock formalism have been performed on a wide variety of organic systems. The relaxation energy as a function of increasing chain- length In a series of linear and bent alkanes has been Investigated, and found to be responsible for the experimentally observed shifts In core binding energies. The valence (2s) Ionized species have also been Investigated, with particular emphasis on line-widths. A study of the simple carbocations has been made, a particular point of Interest being the classical or non-classical descriptions of the bonding in specific cases. To Investigate the effect of extra-molecular contributions to relaxation energies, a series of hydrogen-bonded dimers has been studied as a simple prototype system. Intermolecular contributions to relaxation energies are found to be of the same sign, irrespective of the sign for the shift in core binding energy. The core-like, valence (2s) hole-state species are found to have parallel trends In shifts. A method has been developed for partitioning the total relaxation energy Into contributions from each occupied orbital in the molecule of interest. This procedure Is shown to be both mathematically rigorous, and In accord with chemical Intuition, and Is applied to several series of related molecules. From studies of this nature, a clearer understanding of the relationship between chemical bonding, and the reorganization processes accompanying core-ionization is possible. Finally, as an extension of the Investigation into extra- molecular relaxation energies, and a further example of the use of relaxation energy partitioning, some simple prototype systems for the adsorption of small molecules onto metal surfaces are considered. In the case of CO on Ni, It Is found that a bent conformation Is needed to Interpret the available XPS data.


The relevance of spatial effects in the wage curve can be rationalized by the model of monopsonistic competition in regional labour markets. However, distortions in extracting the regional unemployment effects arise in standard regional (i.e. NUTS) classifications as they fail to adequately capture spatial processes. In addition, the nonstationarity of wages and unemployment is often ignored. Both issues are particularly important in high unemployment regimes like East Germany where a wage curve is difficult to establish. In this paper, labour market regions defined by economic criteria are used to examine the existence of an East German wage curve. Due to the nonstationarity of spatial data, a global panel cointegration approach is adopted. By specifying a spatial error correction model (SpECM), equilibrium adjustments are investigated in time and space. The analysis gives evidence on a locally but not a spatially cointegrated wage curve for East Germany.


While most modern web browsers offer history functionality, few people use it to revisit previously viewed web pages. In this paper, we present the design and evaluation of Contextual Web History (CWH), a novel browser history implementation which improves the visibility of the history feature and helps people find previously visited web pages. We present the results of a formative user study to understand what factors helped people in finding past web pages. From this, we developed CWH to be more visible to users, and supported search, browsing, thumbnails, and metadata. Combined, these relatively simple features outperformed Mozilla Firefox 3's built-in browser history function, and greatly reduced the time and effort required to find and revisit a web page.


This study examines the effects of economic integration on FDI flows and the effects of FDI flows on economic growth in ASEAN5 countries. ASEAN, as an RTA is facing economic threats from China and India and other RTAs. Individually, the economies of ASEAN are small. To face the threats, ASEAN need to integrate economically to form a larger market size and functionally to facilitate the attraction of capital inflows to achieve medium and long run growth in the hub and spillover effects in the peripheral countries.
The study applies panel data techniques (unit root and cointegration tests) on annual data from Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Singapore over the period from 1970 to 2005. After confirming the stationarity and long-run relationships, we applied the Pedroni's FMOLS method to estimate the variable coefficients. We found market size, economic integration, human capital, infrastructure and existing FDI stock to be robustly significant (1%) to FDI for ASEAN5. We also found that FDI economic integration and human capital to be robustly significant (1%) to economic growth, manufacturing sector growth and high technology sector growth for ASEAN5. The FDI flowing into ASEAN5 was found to be market seeking in nature while human capital was found to be inversely proportional to the per capita income of the five countries. The high level of elasticity of existing FDI stock on FDI inflows suggest the existence of bottlenecks or saturation of FDI inflows arising from sectoral bias.
The effect of FDI on economic growth of ASEAN5 countries was found to be higher for countries with higher per capita income. At the same time, the human capital variable was found to be higher in elasticity as the growth variable move from economic growth to manufacturing growth to high technology growth. Coupled with strong intra-industry trade in the manufacturing sector of ASEAN5, an integrated approach to draw in FDI and promote manufacturing and high technology growth should be accelerated. The machinery and electrical appliances industry contributes the highest trade in the region and is highly integrated in intra-industry trade within the region. The key hubs of the industry within the region are Malaysia and Singapore.
From the robust significance of integration level, human capital, FDI inflows and growth, an integrated open liberalization approach must be adopted with particular focus on human capital development, for ASEAN5 to meet the challenges ahead.


Much has been written about orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) with regard to their education and living. However, relatively few studies have documented the psychosocial support provided for OVC in public primary schools to enhance their psychosocial well-being. This study therefore contributes to the understanding of the challenges experienced by teachers in providing psychosocial support for OVC and the possible intervention strategies that could be adopted to mitigate these challenges. Seven public primary schools from Soweto participated in the study, comprising 42 educators and 65 OVC in Grade Seven. Findings that emerged provide supporting evidence that minimal psychosocial support is offered, and it is marred by numerous challenges in public primary schools, including lack of professionals to provide guidance and counselling services, few teachers trained in life orientation, and a lack of support from parents/guardians for OVC. Based on the findings, several intervention strategies are presented. Keywords : challenges; interventions; life orientation skills; orphans and vulnerable children; training


Consider a BGP free core scenario where traffic is tunneled between
edge routers. Suppose the edge BGP speakers PE1, PE2,..., PEn know
about a prefix P/m via the external routers CE1, CE2,..., CEm. If the
edge router PEi crashes or becomes totally disconnected from the core,
it desirable for a core router "P" that is carrying traffic to the
failed edge router PEi to immediately restore traffic by re- routing
packets originally tunneled to PEi and destined to the prefix P/m to
one of the other edge routers that advertised P/m, say PEj, until BGP
re-converges. If the packets originally flowing to the failed edge
router PEi are labeled, then the repairing core router P router may
need to swap, push, or pop the label advertised by the failed edge
router PEi with another label before re-routing the packet through an
LSP terminating PEj so that PEj can correctly forward the packet. The
document proposes an extension to IS-IS protocol to inform core
routers about the repair edge router PEj and, for labeled packets, the
label that needs to be pushed/swapped before sending the packet into
the tunnel terminating on PEj


Translucent polycrystalline aluminas with different grain sizes were obtained by sintering the green compact, which was fabricated by using slip casting methods for high-purity α-alumina (99.99 %) powder of 0.24 μm in grain size, at 1,373 ∼ 2,073 K and by applying HIP method. Effect of average grain size on transmittance and mechanical strength of sintered bodies was investigated. For sintered bodies with average grain size of less than 2 μm, transmittance increased because of the effect by Rayleigh scattering. Non-translucent alumina with average grain size about 2 ∼ 7 μm is considered to follow Mie scattering. For average grain sizes larger than 7 μm, the transmittance was slightly increased based on the law of Fresnel. Mechanical strength of sintered body increased with decreasing the grain size, and depended on the inverse-square law of the grain size. Polycrystalline alumina with the average grain size of 0.8 μm showed the excellent properties of high transmittance and high mechanical strength, compared with that of lucalox.


The purpose of this research was to determined the effectiveness of health education with individual aproach about knowledge of diet toward patient with hypertension. The design of this research was "Quasy experiment" The research conducted at puskesmas harapan raya Pekanbaru. This research used 30 Samples,  taken with purposive sampling technique. Wilcoxon signed rank test and mann whitney test was used to analysed the data. The result shoned that health education effect the knowledge of eating pattern in hypertension patient ( p value 0,000) < α(0,05). This research recommend to all health personel to give health education  with individual approach method to increase of knowledge toward patient with hypertension about diet to reduce other complication due to hypertension. Keywords : effectiveness education of health, individual method, knowledge of system meal, sufferer hypertension. References : 38 (2002-2013)


Like many other social phenomena, prostitution is increasingly coordinated over the Internet. The online behavior affects the offline activity; the reverse is also true. We investigated the reported sexual contacts between 6,624 anonymous escorts and 10,106 sex buyers extracted from an online community from its beginning and six years on. These sexual encounters were also graded and categorized (in terms of the type of sexual activities performed) by the buyers. From the temporal, bipartite network of posts, we found a full feedback loop in which high grades on previous posts affect the future commercial success of the sex worker, and vice versa. We also found a peculiar growth pattern in which the turnover of community members and sex workers causes a sublinear preferential attachment. There is, moreover, a strong geographic influence on network structure—the network is geographically clustered but still close to connected, the contacts consistent with the inverse-square law observed in trading patterns. We also found that the number of sellers scales sublinearly with city size, so this type of prostitution does not, comparatively speaking, benefit much from an increasing concentration of people.


This thesis addresses the synthesis problem of state deadbeat regulator using state space techniques. Deadbeat control is a linear control strategy in discrete time systems and consists of driving the system from any arbitrary initial state to a desired final state infinite number of time steps.

Having described the framework for development of the thesis which is in the form of a lower linear-fractional transformation (LFT), the conditions for internal stability based on the notion of coprime factorization over the set of proper and stable transfer matrices, namely RH, is discussed. This leads to the derivation of the class of all stabilizing linear controllers, which are parameterized affinely in terms of a stable but otherwise free parameter Q, usually known as the Q-parameterization. In this work, the classical Q- parameterization is generalized to deliver a parameterization for the family of deadbeat regulators.

 Time response characteristics of the deadbeat system are investigated. In particular, the deadbeat regulator design problem in which the system must satisfy time domain specifications and minimize a quadratic (LQG-type) performance criterion is examined. It is shown that the attained parameterization for deadbeat controllers leads to the formulation of the synthesis problem in a quadratic programming framework with Q regarded as the design variable. The equivalent formulation of this objective as a quadratic integral in the frequency domain provides the means for shaping the frequency response characteristics of the system. Using the LMI characterization of the standard H problem, a new scheme for shaping the system frequency response characteristics by minimizing the infinity norm of an appropriate closed-loop transfer function is introduced. As shown, the derived parameterization of deadbeat compensators simplifies considerably the formulation and solution of this problem.

The last part of the work described in this thesis is devoted to addressing the synthesis problem of deadbeat regulators in a robust way, when the plant is subject to structured norm-bounded parametric uncertainties. A novel approach which is expressed as an LMI feasibility condition has been proposed and analysed.


Many practical decision models can be formulated as concave minimization problems. Supply chain network design problems (SCNDP) that explicitly account for economies-ofscale and/or risk pooling often lead to mathematical problems with a concave objective and linear constraints. In this thesis, we propose new solution approaches for this class of problems and use them to tackle new applications. In the first part of the thesis, we propose two new solution methods for an important class of mixed-integer concave minimization problems over a polytope that appear frequently in SCNDP. The first is a Lagrangian decomposition approach that enables a tight bound and a high quality solution to be obtained in a single iteration by providing a closed-form expression for the best Lagrangian multipliers. The Lagrangian approach is then embedded within a branch-and-bound framework. Extensive numerical testing, including implementation on three SCNDP from the literature, demonstrates the validity and efficiency of the proposed approach. The second method is a Benders approach that is particularly effective when the number of concave terms is small. The concave terms are isolated in a low-dimensional master problem that can be efficiently solved through enumeration. The subproblem is a linear program that is solved to provide a Benders cut. Branch-and-bound is then used to restore integrality if necessary. The Benders approach is tested and benchmarked against commercial solvers and is found to outperform them in many cases. In the second part, we formulate and solve the problem of designing a supply chain for chilled and frozen products. The cold supply chain design problem is formulated as a mixed-integer concave minimization problem with dual objectives of minimizing the total cost, including capacity, transportation, and inventory costs, and minimizing the global warming impact that includes, in addition to the carbon emissions from energy usage, the leakage of high global-warming-potential refrigerant gases. Demand is modeled as a general distribution, whereas inventory is assumed managed using a known policy but without explicit formulas for the inventory cost and maximum level functions. The Lagrangian approach proposed in the first part is combined with a simulation-optimization approach to tackle the problem. An important advantage of this approach is that it can be used with different demand distributions and inventory policies under mild conditions. The solution approach is verified through extensive numerical testing on two realistic case studies from different industries, and some managerial insights are drawn. In the third part, we propose a new mathematical model and a solution approach for the SCNDP faced by a medical sterilization service provider serving a network of hospitals. The sterilization network design problem is formulated as a mixed-integer concave


Objective – To determine whether the quality of sources used for a research paper will improve after a student receives one-on-one instruction with a librarian. To test citation analysis and a rating scale as means for measuring effectiveness of one-on-one consultations.

Design – Citation analysis.

Setting – Academic library of a large American university.

Subjects – Papers from 10 courses were evaluated. In total, 76 students were asked to meet with librarians. Of these, 61 actually participated. Another 36 students from the control group were not asked to meet with a librarian (although 1 partook in a consultation).

Methods – Librarians invited faculty to participate in a new service to help improve quality of student research papers. Eligible courses included those with a required research paper component where papers could be evaluated at different times in the project. Faculty instructed students in the class to meet with the librarian after a first draft of a paper was written. Students from seven courses were asked to meet with a librarian. Courses included English Composition (2), Geography (1), Child Development (1), Occupational Therapy (1), Marketing (1) and Women Writers (1). Three courses acted as control groups (all English Composition). After meeting with students to make recommendations, librarians used a rating scale (measuring relevancy, authority, appropriate dates and scope) to review the quality of sources in both drafts and final papers.

Main Results – One-on-one consultations with a librarian resulted in sources being of a higher quality in the final paper. With the exception of authority, the differences between draft and final paper were statistically significant in all measures (overall quality, relevance, dates and scope). Those in the control group showed no improvement in quality of sources between draft and final paper.

Conclusion – Quality of sources in final paper improves after one-on-one consultations with librarians. The use of a rating scale is helpful in objectively measuring quality of sources, although there is potential for subjective interpretation.


As a major public health problem in the world, cancer does great harm to human health. With the study on cancer changing from the mode of biology to biopsychosocial, people begin to use psychological method to cure for cancer. So, the relationship between psychological factors and oncology is closely related.
We selected research manuscripts from core collection in Web of Science from 2000 to 2014. We mainly used paper bibliographic coupling analysis by information visualization software (Sci2). In this study, we can detect that the carcinogenic mechanism of psychological factor, the breast cancer patients' psychological state and psychological situation on life quality of the cancer patients has been always research topics. In recent years, the function of psychological intervention for chronic pain of the cancer patients, psychological assessment scales for the cancer patients, the combined effect of psychological intervention and pharmaceutical drug for the cancer patients and the influence of psychotherapeutic interventions on symptoms of mental disease and disease progression and mortality on cancer patients were added to hot research directions.
This study built mapping knowledge domain of paper bibliographic coupling by the visualization software (Sci2), we can reveal the important authors and research direction clearly in different period of time in this field, in order to provide a scientific basis for researchers and policy makers in this field and acquire more valuable information and promote rapid development of this area.


The paper explores the growing use of tools from the arts and humanities for investigation and dissemination of social science research. Emerging spaces for knowledge transfer, such as the World Wide Web, are explored as outlets for "performative social science". Questions of ethnics and questions of evaluation which emerge from performative social science and the use of new technologies are discussed. Contemporary thinking in aesthetics is explored to answer questions of evaluation. The use of the Internet for productions is proposed as supporting the collective elaboration of meaning supported by Relational Aesthetics. One solution to the ethical problem of performing the narrations of others is the use of the writer's own story as autoethnography. The author queries autoethnography's tendency to tell "sad" stories and proposes an amusing story, exemplified by "The One about Princess Margaret" (see Appendix). The conclusion is reached that the free and open environment of the Internet sidelines the usual tediousness of academic publishing and begins to explore new answers to questions posed about the evaluation and ethics of performative social science.


Background: In a developing country, infectious disease remains the most important cause of fever, but the noncommunicable diseases, like malignancy, are fast becoming important differential diagnoses. An important clinical problem is the cases labeled as fever of unknown origin (FUO), which often evade diagnosis. Objective: The present study was undertaken to find the cause of FUO in a tertiary care hospital of eastern India. Materials and Methods: This is a prospective study of inpatients, with regard to both clinical signs and investigations. Results: The main diagnosis in the end was tuberculosis, closely followed by hematological malignancy. A substantial number of cases remained undiagnosed despite all investigations. The provisional diagnosis matched with the final in around two thirds of the cases. While for younger patients leukemia was a significant diagnosis, for older ones, extra-pulmonary tuberculosis was a main concern. Interpretation: In India, infectious disease still remains the most important cause of fever. Thus the initial investigations should always include tests for that purpose in a case of FUO. Conclusion: Geographic variations and local infection profiles should always be considered when investigating a case of FUO. However, some of the cases always elude diagnosis, although the patients may respond to empirical therapy.


In 2014, the American Bar Association (ABA) Coalition on Racial and Ethnic Justice (COREJ) turned its attention to the continuing failures in the education system where certain groups of students — for example, students of color, with disabilities, or LGBTQ — are disproportionately over- or incorrectly categorized in special education, are disciplined more harshly, including referral to law enforcement for minimal misbehavior, achieve at lower levels, and eventually drop or are pushed out of school, often into juvenile justice facilities and prisons — a pattern now commonly referred to as the School-to-Prison Pipeline. While this problem certainly is not new, it presented a convergence of several laws, policies, and practices where the legal community's intervention is critical. Joined by the ABA Pipeline Council and Criminal Justice Section, and supported by its sister ABA entities, COREJ sponsored a series of eight Town Halls across the country to investigate the issues surrounding this pipeline. The focus of these Town Halls was to 1) explore the issues as they presented themselves for various groups and various locales; 2) gather testimony on solutions that showed success, with particular focus on interventions where the legal community could be most effective in interrupting and reversing the School-to-Prison Pipeline; and 3) draw attention to the role implicit bias plays in creating and maintaining this pipeline. This report is a result of those convenings.


Using detailed Monte Carlo calculations, the properties of runaway breakdown in the atmospheres of the four gas giant planets in our solar system are investigated, and the runaway avalanche lengths and average runaway electron kinetic energies are presented as a function of atmospheric electric field strengths. The runaway breakdown threshold field for the Jovian atmospheres is found to be 10 times smaller than the conventional breakdown field when hydrometeors are present, compared to 3 times smaller for Earth's atmosphere, indicating that runaway breakdown processes may be much more efficient in the gas giants than on Earth. In the Earth's atmosphere, runaway breakdown is known to produce large bursts of x‐rays and gamma‐rays from thunderstorms, such as terrestrial gamma‐ray flashes, and may play a role in lightning initiation. These results suggest that runaway breakdown may play an important role in thunderstorm and lightning processes on the Jovian planets as well.


This paper presents a methodology for integrating features within the occupancy grid (OG) framework. The OG maps provide a dense representation of the environment. In particular they give information for every range measurement projected onto a grid. However independence assumptions between cells during updates as well as not considering sonar models lead to inconsistent maps, which may also lead the robot to take some decisions which may be unsafe or which may introduce an unnecessary overhead of run-time collision avoidance behaviors. Feature based maps provide more consistent representation by implicitly considering correlation between cells. But they are sparse due to sparseness of features in a typical environment. This paper provides a method for integrating feature based representations within the standard Bayesian framework of OG and provides a dense, more accurate and safe representation than standard OG methods.


INTRODUCTION In the Bay of Batavia there are patch-reefs and cays in different stadia of development. Some are small reefs still rather deep below sea level, other reefs bear a small sand cay. On the larger coral sand islands vegetation has developed ; moreover shingle ramparts and a moat have come into existence. The islands and reefs considered in this paper are situated South of a line which may be thought passing from Cape Pasir towards the Island Edam, so forming a boundary between the reefs in the Bay of Batavia and the northern group of Thousand Islands ("Duizend eilanden"). The author studied these reefs in some detail and the results were published as early as 1928 1). In that amply illustrated paper data and considerations may be found on temperature, salinity, silt, beach conglomerate, negative shift of the strandline; special attention is given to the origin and development of the reefs and islands and the mutual connection between their morphology and the prevailing winds. Moreover a preliminary list of coral species was given and the ecological aspects were considered. (The corals figured in that paper are in the Museum of the Geological Survey at Bandoeng, Java). The two points last named are treated in a more definite form in the present publication. Since I published the 1928 paper I paid some more visits to the Bay of Batavia resulting in the finding of a greater number of species. Then a zoologist, Dr J. Verwey, stayed in Batavia a few years and made extensive studies on the fauna of the reefs 1). Also Boschma published some papers on corals from the Bay of Bata-


The president's constitutional pardon power has been administered by the attorney general since before the Civil War, but this arrangement has never been adequately explained or justified. On its face it appears rife with conflict of institutional interests: how could the agency responsible for convicting people and putting them in prison also be tasked with forgiving them and setting them free? In spite of these apparently antithetical missions, the Justice Department managed the pardon program in a low-key and reliable manner for well over a century, staffing it with a handful of career lawyers operating on a shoestring budget, and churning out hundreds of favorable clemency recommendations each year for the president's consideration. While there were occasionally controversial grants there were never scandalous ones, and the president was able to use his power to good effect in wartime and in peace.It is only in the past two decades that questions have been raised about the integrity and functionality of the pardon process, focusing squarely on the agency and individuals standing as gatekeeper to the president's power. President Obama's decision in early 2014 to launch a large-scale clemency initiative, and the Justice Department's unprecedented decision to rely upon a consortium of private organizations to manage it, make this a propitious time to consider whether the presidency is well-served by an arrangement making officials responsible for prosecuting crime the primary source of clemency advice.This essay concludes that the culture and mission of the Justice Department have in recent years become determinedly and irreconcilably hostile to the beneficent purposes of the pardon power, and to its regular use by the president. The only way to deal with the institutional conflict that produced and perpetuates this situation is to transfer the pardon program to the president's direct supervision in the Executive Office of the President. This move will have a variety of benefits, including facilitating the president's ability to oversee the workings of the criminal justice system, for which he has a special responsibility under the Constitution. More specifically, it will introduce salutary political accountability to federal prosecutions through presidential oversight and potential revision. Finally, it will give the president control for the first time in decades over his own "benign prerogative."


With the availability of tons of expression profiles, the need for meta-analyses to integratedifferent types of microarray data are obvious. For detection of differentially expressed genes,most of the current efforts are focused on comparing and evaluating gene lists obtained fromeach individual dataset. Several statistical meta-analysis methods, including Fisher's methodand the random effects model, have been proposed but the statistcal framework is not oftenrigorously formulated for evaluation and comparison. In this dissertation, we attempt toformulate meta-analysis in genomic studies and develop systematic integration methods fortwo-class studies and multi-class studies.First, we tackle two often-asked biological questions: "Which genes are significant in oneor more data sets?" and "Which genes are significant in all data sets?". We illustrate twostatistical hypothesis settings and propose an optimally weighted statistic and compare toclassical Fisher's equally weighted statistic and Tippett's minimum p-value statistic. Gener-ally there exists no uniformly most powerful test and we show that all of the three methodsare admissible under simplified Gaussian assumptions. Furthermore, the optimally weightedstatistic maintains advantages of the two classical methods and consistently performs wellwhen the two methods perform poorly in respective extreme alternative hypotheses. Theoptimal weights provide natural categorization of the detected genes to facilitate further bio-logical investigation. We demonstrate the comparison and advantages of optimally weightedstatistic by power analysis, simulations and two real data analyses of combining multi-tissue energy metabolism mouse data sets and prostate cancer data sets.Second, we propose two methods for identifying biomarkers of concordant patterns acrossstudies, when there are more than two classes in each study. So far, published meta-analysismethods for this purpose mostly consider two-class comparison. Methods for combiningmulti-class studies and pattern concordance are rarely explored. We first consider a naturalextension of combining p-values from the traditional ANOVA model. Since p-values fromANOVA do not reflect pattern information, we propose a multi-class correlation measure(MCC) under equal-weight bivariate mixture model to specifically seek for biomarkers ofconcordant patterns across a pair of studies. For both approaches, we focus to identifybiomarkers differentially expressed in all studies (ANOVA-maxP, min-MCC). Both ANOVA-maxP and min-MCC are evaluated by simulation studies and by applications to a multi-tissuemouse metabolism data set and a multi-platform mouse trauma data set.Finally, we develop a "genomeMeta" R package. genomeMeta produces visualization and summarization of biomarkers identified by methods that we describe and propose in thisdissertation.This work could improve public health by providing more effective methodologies forbiomarker detection in the integration of multiple genomic studies.


The measurement of runway roughness and the determination of the severity of runway roughness have long been the subject of nebulous discussion and esoteric description. By considering the direct effect on aircraft structure, Boeing has developed a discrete surface deviation evaluation method that considers the shape of the runway surface, as measured by a close interval elevation survey. The survey results are plotted on a scale that exaggerates the vertical deviations, and the discrete bumps are compared to a criteria developed by Boeing for jet transport aircraft. The criteria can be used to initiate repair or to alert maintenance activity at specific runway locations, depending on the severity of surface roughness. The criteria can also be used to provide temporary ramp dimensions for nighttime or off-peak-hour paving with asphaltic materials. Runway repair or rehabilitation normally employs temporary ramping at the end of each work period. The ramping, provided to allow daily aircraft movements, should be designed so as to minimize wasted paving materials, yet at the same time provide acceptable roughness for aircraft operating on the partially rehabilitated runway surface. The Boeing roughness criteria can be used to provide appropriate temporary ramp dimensions for use in offpeak design.


In this study silver/poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) and silver/poly vinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) Nanocomposites were prepared via reduction of silver salt by employing DMF (N, N`- dimethyl formamide) as a reducing agent. Effects of protective agents such as PVA and PVP were also described here. We show that the acidic pH of PVP solution also affects the interaction between protective agents and silver nanoparticles. The nanoparticles were characterized by ultra violet-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis), FTIR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). From the figures, it can be concluded that PVP is somewhat better than PVA for preventing silver nanoparticles from their agglomeration.


Abstract:Central America confronts two key challenges, one stemming from the global economic crisis and the other from escalating levels of criminal and gang-related violence. Within the region, however, there is wide variation of the impacts of both challenges, with some countries doing far better than others. AmericasBarometer survey data reveal that public levels of frustration with economic performance and institutions and support for democracy vary considerably. The extreme case of multiple frustration is Honduras, suggesting that the 2009 coup that took place there occurred in part because of elites' reactions to citizen dissatisfaction. The article also raises concerns about Guatemala based on those same data.


Abstract Armed groups frequently issue ad hoc commitments that contain a law of armed conflict component. These commitments detail the obligation of the relevant armed group to abide by international humanitarian law, the Geneva Conventions, or particular rules set out in the commitment. They commit the group to abide by international standards, sometimes exceed international standards, or in certain respects violate international standards. Although these commitments are often overlooked, they offer certain lessons for the law of armed conflict. This article considers the commitments of armed groups with respect to two specific areas of the law that are either of contested interpretation or seemingly inapplicable to non-international armed conflicts, namely the identification of legitimate targets and the prisoners of war regime.


We describe how the theorem prover Marcel, a program written by Randall Holmes, can be used to prove a result from introductory analysis. We were given the axioms for an ordered field, and we completed a proof of the theorem that every positive real number has a square root. Marcel implements first-order logic via a Gentzen-style sequent calculus, and we first give an outline of the rules for this sequent calculus. We go on to describe how these rules are implemented in Marcel and give example proofs completed using Marcel. This is followed by a brief overview of the axioms for an ordered field and how these axioms were declared in Marcel. We give an outline of an intuitive pencil and paper-style proof of the fact that every positive number has a square root, and we go on to describe a formal proof, completed using Marcel, of the same fact. Finally, we give a few comments regarding the possibilities of using Marcel as an educational tool.


Billions of dollars worth of display advertising are sold via contracts and deals. This paper presents a formal study of preferred deals, a new generation of contracts for selling online advertisement, that generalize the traditional reservation contracts; these contracts are suitable for advertisers with advanced targeting capabilities. We propose a constant-factor approximation algorithm for maximizing the revenue that can be obtained from these deals. We show, both theoretically and via data analysis, that deals, with appropriately chosen minimum-purchase guarantees, can yield significantly higher revenue than auctions. We evaluate our algorithm using data from Google's ad exchange platform. Our algorithm obtains about 90% of the optimal revenue where the second-price auction, even with personalized reserve, obtains at most 52% of the benchmark.


The Soviet economy and how it operated successfully to make it one of the world superpowers in the world under the socialist regime still is unclear to many people around the world, and especially those outside the vast territories of Soviet influence. The country of Ukraine was one of those countries, which makes it very important to understand why the country is at the position it presently finds itself in. Thus, to help us better understand the Ukrainian economy we will look into the history of the Soviet Union. Degree Type Open Access Senior Honors Thesis Department Economics First Advisor Dr. Michael Vogt


Video streaming services have continuously gained popularity over the last decades, accounting for about 70% of all consumer Internet traffic in 2016. All of these video streaming sessions have strict delivery deadlines in order to avoid playout interruptions, detrimentally impacting the Quality of Experience (QoE). However, the vast majority of this traffic uses TCP at the transport layer, which is known to be far from minimizing the number of deadline-missing streams. By introducing deadline-awareness at the transport layer, video delivery can be optimized by prioritizing specific flows. This paper proposes a deadline-aware congestion control mechanism, based on a parametrization of the traditional TCP New Reno congestion control strategy. By taking into account the available deadline information, the modulation of the congestion window is dynamically adapted to steer the aggressiveness of a considered stream. The proposed approach has been thoroughly evaluated in both a video-on-demand (VoD)-only scenario and a scenario where VoD streams co-exist with live streaming sessions and non-deadline-aware traffic. It was shown that in a video streaming scenario the minimal bottleneck bandwidth can be reduced by 16% on average when using deadline-aware congestion control. In coexistence with other TCP traffic, a bottleneck reduction of 11% could be achieved.


This paper presents an account of the physical factors responsible for crosslinguistically common patterns of co-occurrence between values of the features [voice] and [nasal]. Specifically, it offers explanations for why nasals are typically voiced and why voiced obstruents are often accompanied by nasalization, or in terms of features, why [+voice] and [+nasal] co-occur so often and in such a variety of ways. First, it addresses the acoustic-auditory factors responsible for glottal vibration favoring the perceptibility of nasalization. Second, it examines the aerodynamic factors responsible for nasality facilitating glottal vibration. In particular, it suggests that nasal leakage is a maneuver to facilitate voicing in the stop and to preserve the voicing contrast. The paper also argues that if the interaction between the two features can be explained by phonetic principles, then there is no need to encode the patterns of co-occurrence as redundancy rules or constraints in universal grammar. Furthermore, phonological representations that assign the nasal valve and the larynx to separate nodes cannot capture the interaction between nasality and voicing and the co-occurrence patterns.


This paper investigates whether current and future domestic and United States macroeconomic variables can explain long and short run stock returns in Australia. This is undertaken with a view to examining the potential implications of the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement (AUSFTA). America is included in the analysis as a "foreign influence". In the recent past it has been Australia's second largest trading partner after Japan. The long run relationship tested in this study is based on the present value model of stock prices, which is tested using a range of cointegration and causality tests. These include the Johansen ML test, Long Run Structural Modelling, a Vector Error Correction Model and Variance Decomposition. A present value model based on domestic and external economic variables is estimated for the Australian market. American economic activity does not currently have a significant influence on Australian stock markets in the long run and is less influential than domestic economic activity. However, we would expect this to become more significant in the future, as a result of the dismantling of trade barriers in financial services and investments which will be associated with the implementation of AUSFTA.


Hypothesis:Abnormal Vitamin D (Vit D) level could have consequences on the immuno-inflammatory processes in Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS). Aim:The purpose of this study was to analyze the role of Vitamin D in the interplay between immune and inflammation effectors in AS associated-Acute Anterior Uveitis (AAU). Methods and Results:25-hydroxyvitamin D (Vit D), LL-37 peptide, IL-8 and Serum Amyloid A (SAA) were identified and quantified in the serum/ plasma of thirty-four AS patients [eleven AS patients presenting AAU (AAU AS patients) and twenty-three AS patients without AAU (wAAU AS patients)] and eighteen healthy individuals (Control) using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Acute-phase SAA level was significantly higher in AS patients compared to Controls. Contrary with wAAU AS patients, significantly elevated levels of IL-8, and diminished levels of Vit D characterized AAU AS patients. Regarding LL-37, its level decreased concomitantly with the level of Vit D. When AS patients were subgrouped based on AAU presence or on Vit D level, important associations between immuno-inflammatory assessed markers and AS features were noticed. Generally, Vit D levels were associated indirectly with leukocytes/ neutrophils number or with ESR, CRP, and Fibrinogen levels. The levels of SAA and IL-8 associated directly with AAU or with AAU relapses, especially in AS patients with Vit D insufficiency, while SAA associated directly with infection/ inflammatory markers and with disease activity indexes or with the degree of functional limitation. Discussion:Altered levels of Vit D affect the balance between LL-37, IL-8 and SAA, suggesting an association with AAU, an extra-articular manifestation of AS. Abbreviations:Vit D = Vitamin D, AS = Ankylosing Spondylitis, AAU = Acute Anterior Uveitis, AAU AS = AS patients with AAU, wAAU AS = AS patients without AAU, SSZ = Sulphasalazine, Leu = Leukocytes, Neu = Neutrophils.


Osteoarthritis is a slowly progressive and debilitating disease that affects canines of all breeds. Pain and decreased mobility resulting from osteoarthritis often have a negative impact on the affected canine's quality of life, level of comfort, daily functioning, activity, behaviour, and client-pet companionship. Despite limited and conflicting evidence, the natural products glucosamine hydrochloride (HCl) and chondroitin sulfate are commonly recommended by veterinarians for treating osteoarthritis in dogs. There is a paucity of well-designed clinical veterinary studies investigating the true treatment effect of glucosamine and chondroitin. The purposes of this review article are to provide a brief background on glucosamine and chondroitin use in canine osteoarthritis and to critically review the available literature on the role of these products for improving clinical outcomes. Based on critical review, recommendations for practice are suggested and a future study design is proposed.


The advent of analytical technologies being broadly and routinely applied in biology and biochemistry for the analysis and characterization of small molecules in biological organisms has brought with it the need to process, analyze, compare, and evaluate large amounts of experimental data in a highly automated fashion. The most prominent methods used in these fields are chromatographic methods capable of separating complex mixtures of chemical compounds by properties like size or charge, coupled to mass spectrometry detectors that measure the mass and intensity of a compound's ion or its fragments eluting from the chromatographic separation system.

One major problem in these high-throughput applications is the automatic extraction of features quantifying the compounds contained in the measured results and their reliable association among multiple measurements for quantification and statistical analysis.

The main goal of this thesis is the creation of scalable and robust methods for highly automated processing of large numbers of samples. Of special importance is the comparison of different samples in order to find similarities and differences in the context of metabolomics, the study of small chemical compounds in biological organisms.

We herein describe novel algorithms for retention time alignment of peak and chromatogram data from one- and two-dimensional gas chromatography-mass spectrometry experiments in the application area of metabolomics. We also perform a comprehensive evaluation of each method against other state-of-the-art methods on publicly available datasets with genuine biological backgrounds.

In addition to these methods, we also describe the underlying software framework Maltcms and the accompanying graphical user interface Maui, and demonstrate their use on instructive application examples.


Environmental law does not necessarily promote innovations that lead to drastic improvement of environmental performance (eco-innovations). The focus of EU environmental law on best available techniques is exemplary. Businesses often complain that environmental law hampers innovation, even innovations that have tremendous positive impacts on the environment. This article reports on a study we did to see whether this complaint is justified. We did a literature study into the relationship between innovation and environmental law to find out whether and how environmental law can promote innovation. Then, we did six detailed case studies into recent innovation projects in the Netherlands, to assess whether and if so how environmental law in practice was a stimulus or an obstacle to these innovations. The research shows that current environmental law does not foster eco-innovation. It also shows that environmental law indeed sometimes hampers eco-innovations, but that a transparent process, involving all stakeholders from the start, limits this risk and allows for circumnavigation of the possible legal obstacles.


We analyzed and compared quantitatively the optoelectronic characteristics of perovskite PV devices with and without annealing the perovskite layer in a methyl ammonium chloride vapor atmosphere (MACl treatment). We found that the MACl treatment resulted in the mitigation of defect states, reduced defect density, improvement in the carrier profile, and passivation of recombination activities, which we infer as natural consequences of significantly improved film quality with better crystallinity and grain morphology of the perovskite layer. MACl-treated devices are more efficient with the best efficiency of ∼15.1% with small standard deviation (std.) (0.50%) and improved stability compared to devices without MACl treatment having the best efficiency of 12.4% with std. of 0.66%.


A notable feature of the recent commercialisation of biotechnology has been the success of 200 or so new firms, established in America since 1976, in exploiting specialised market niches. A key factor in their formation has been the ready availability of venture capital funding. These firms have been instrumental in establishing America's lead in exploiting biotechnology. It is this example which Britain has attempted to emulate as part of its strategy for developing its own biotechnology capabilities. This thesis investigated some aspects of the relationship between biotechnology and venture capital, concentrating on the determinants of the venture capitalist's investment decision. Following an extensive literature survey, two hypothetical business proposals were used to find what venture capitalists themselves consider to be the key elements of this decision. It was found that venture capitalists invest in people, not products, and businesses, not industries. It was concluded that venture capital-backed small firms should, therefore, be seen as an adjunct to the development of biotechnology in Britain, rather than as a substitute for a co-ordinated, co-operative strategy involving Government, the financial institutions, industry and academia. This is chiefly because the small size of the UK's domestic market means that many potentially important innovations in biotechnology may continue to be lost, since the short term identification of market opportunities for biotechnology products will dictate that they are insupportable in Britain alone. In addition, the data analysis highlighted some interesting methodological issues concerning the investigation of investment decision making. These related especially to shortcomings in the use of scoresheets and questionnaires in research in this area. The conclusion here was that future research should concentrate on the reasons why an individual reaches an investment decision. It is argued that only in this way can the nature of the evaluation procedures employed by venture capitalists be properly understood.


Bromelain is an extract obtained from the pineapple plant and is used as a traditional folk remedy for several ailments. In this review, a comprehensive electronic database search was carried out to compile available literature on therapeutic implications of bromelain. Pharmaceutical value of bromelain has been demonstrated in different surgical sub-specialties. Diverse biological processes like anti-inflammatory, anti-oedematous, analgesic, anti-thrombotic, exfoliation etc. are involved in bromelain's therapeutic actions, mediated through the kallikrein-kinin and arachidonic acid pathways as well as through effects on cell mediated immunity. Bromelain equals non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs as an anti-inflammatory agent, but has been shown to have fewer side effects. In Europe it is approved for oral and topical use, mainly for surgical wounds, inflammation due to trauma and surgery, and debridement of deep burns. Literature suggests a promising role of bromelain in surgical care. More clinical trials to establish its utility as an anti-inflammatory agent in surgical care are recommended.


Modern methods of compositional data analysis are not well known in biomedical research.
Moreover, there appear to be few mathematical and statistical researchers
working on compositional biomedical problems. Like the earth and environmental sciences,
biomedicine has many problems in which the relevant scienti c information is
encoded in the relative abundance of key species or categories. I introduce three problems
in cancer research in which analysis of compositions plays an important role. The
problems involve 1) the classi cation of serum proteomic pro les for early detection of
lung cancer, 2) inference of the relative amounts of di erent tissue types in a diagnostic
tumor biopsy, and 3) the subcellular localization of the BRCA1 protein, and it's
role in breast cancer patient prognosis. For each of these problems I outline a partial
solution. However, none of these problems is \solved". I attempt to identify areas in
which additional statistical development is needed with the hope of encouraging more
compositional data analysts to become involved in biomedical research


Abstract This study examined the relationship between self-esteem and the sexual behavior and intended sexual behavior of Hispanic middle school students. Students in grades 6–8 (n=1,077) from a predominately Hispanic school district completed a questionnaire designed to elicit information regarding self-esteem, sexual knowledge, attitudes, intended behavior, and behavior. Results for behavior variables were as follows: (1) "sexual intercourse ever"—those who had never participated in sexual intercourse scored higher on both home and school self-esteem; (2) "sexual intercourse last month"—those who had not participated in sexual intercourse in the last month scored higher on school self-esteem; and (3) "intent to have sexual intercourse"—those who scored higher on home and school self-esteem had lower levels of intent to participate in sexual intercourse, those who scored higher on peer self-esteem had higher levels of intent to intend to participate in sexual intercourse. Our results highlight the important positive role of the home and school in influencing sexual behavior of Hispanic adolescents. The results also seem to indicate that for many Hispanic students, sexual experience may be viewed as a means of being accepted by peers.


The familiar radical slogan is: Think Globally; Act Locally. This advice was not so much subverted as inverted during the 1986–7 America's Cup in Western Australia — the trick was to act globally but think locally.

The Cup, an event induced by media, attracting 2,000 visiting journalists and creating a new meaning for Western Australia in the eyes of the world's television, generated more than euphoric images of Australia, sport, and leisure for American tourists. It provoked, within the host community, an unwonted but sustained bout of self-reflexivity and utopianism. It became the mechanism — or rather the practice — through which questions of national (or quasi-national) identity and signification could be thought through; it was a race against time, space, and structure.

What follows can be read as a review of some aspects of an exotic local event; equally, however, it can be seen as an account of an increasingly international cultural/political phenomenon — the euphoricization of democracy and the mobilization of national unity as a commodity to sell on the open market of the consciousness industries within a global economy of commodified meaning.

Within this economy, the distinctions between texts and contexts disappear; the bodies and actions of the people involved (which is everybody) are textualized into a cultural practice of competitive performance: to put the local on show for the global — to act globally.


Access, transform, and integrate data using Talend's open source, extensible tools Overview Write complex processing job codes easily with the help of clear and step by step instructions Compare, filter, evaluate, and group vast quantities of data using Hadoop Pig Explore and perform HDFS and RDBMS integration with the Sqoop component In Detail Talend, a successful Open Source Data Integration Solution, accelerates the adoption of new big data technologies and efficiently integrates them into your existing IT infrastructure. It is able to do this because of its intuitive graphical language, its multiple connectors to the Hadoop ecosystem, and its array of tools for data integration, quality, management, and governance. This is a concise, pragmatic book that will guide you through design and implement big data transfer easily and perform big data analytics jobs using Hadoop technologies like HDFS, HBase, Hive, Pig, and Sqoop. You will see and learn how to write complex processing job codes and how to leverage the power of Hadoop projects through the design of graphical Talend jobs using business modeler, meta-data repository, and a palette of configurable components. Starting with understanding how to process a large amount of data using Talend big data components, you will then learn how to write job procedures in HDFS. You will then look at how to use Hadoop projects to process data and how to export the data to your favourite relational database system. You will learn how to implement Hive ELT jobs, Pig aggregation and filtering jobs, and simple Sqoop jobs using the Talend big data component palette. You will also learn the basics of Twitter sentiment analysis the instructions to format data with Apache Hive. Talend for Big Data will enable you to start working on big data projects immediately, from simple processing projects to complex projects using common big data patterns. What you will learn from this book Know the structure of the Talend Unified Platform Work with Talend HDFS components Implement ELT processing jobs using Talend Hive components Load, filter, aggregate, and store data using Talend Pig components Integrate HDFS with RDBMS using Sqoop components Use the streaming pattern for big data Learn to reuse the partitioning pattern for big data Approach This book is written in a concise and easy-to-understand manner, and acts as a comprehensive guide on data analytics and integration with Talend big data processing jobs. Who this book is written for If you are a chief information officer, enterprise architect, data architect, data scientist, software developer, software engineer, or a data analyst who is familiar with data processing projects and who wants to use Talend to get your first big data job executed in a reliable, quick, and graphical way, then Talend for Big Data is perfect for you.


Foundatioins of Business Economics explains microeconomic analysis in terms of real business situations. The underlying theme of the book is the way in which markets link together interdependent activities and how they confront and solve problems of information. The book covers a wide range of issues, including *The economic way of thinking *The Business environment *Product markets *Market failure *Factor markets *General equilibrium Theory is developed carefully but with a light touch and mathematics kept to a minimum, making the book easily accessible. It will be particularly valuable for those students whose interests lie on the human side of industry. explanation of microeconomic analysis in terms of real business practice. The author examines the way markets link together interdependent economic activities and provides general equilibrium models of the entire economic system.


This testbed practice paper presents our efforts to validate an analytical model for fluid flow behavior in wireless mesh networks with an experimental evaluation. We have developed a fluid model for multihop communication in wireless mesh networks and analyzed it with simulations. Now, we describe our efforts to reproduce the modeled and simulated network with an indoor WiFi mesh network and to measure flow parameters that allow us to verify that the underlying assumptions and the flow behavior can be matched in real networks. Our experiences emphasize the need to gap the bridge between simulations and experimental validation as well as the lack of tools to efficiently validate results. These findings are particularly true in wireless mesh networks where interference is beyond the control of the experiment and where nodes are distributed such that an easy coordination and monitoring of the nodes is not possible.


OBJECTIVES
The communication with patients who have undergoned transplantation is greatly influenced by their subjective experience. This paper deals with this subjective transplant-specific experience six months after surgery.

METHODS
Following their heart, lung, liver, or kidney transplantation, 120 patients were questioned concerning their experiences regarding the transplantation, the organ itself, and changes in their personal life. Their statements were investigated by qualitative content analysis.

RESULTS
Generally, the statements concerning the transplantation were positive. Interpersonal contact with the medical staff and or family members was perceived as very helpful. Two-thirds of the patients spoke openly about their organ. For the most part, their statements about changes in their personal life were positive, expressed in the sense of personal growth. Fears and insecurities occurred as negative changes.

CONCLUSIONS
On the whole, the majority of the patients expressed positive experiences regarding their transplantation. Interpersonal and supportive relationships played a significant role.


The purposes of this study were to survey the actual conditions of balance disabilities in persons with mental retardation and to discuss their factors , from two aspects of dynamic balance evaluated by a beam walking test and static balance measured by a one foot balance test . Subjects were 157 persons with mental retardation aged 6 to 50 years. The relations between the performance of each balance and four variables (chronological age , mental age, clinical type and age of walking) were examined. Results were as follows : (1) Though balance abilities of persons with mental retardation were generally lower, two kinds of groups were found out . The first group showed lower performance in static balance while the other consisted of persons with lower ability in dynamic balance. (2) Individual age of walking was found to be closely related to both static and dynamic balance in all clinical groups . (3) Mental age was positively related to static balance without definite relation to dynamic balance. From (2) and (3), disorders of reflex system and behavior regulation were discussed as the factors in balance disabilities of persons with mental retardation .


This current investigation explores the relationship between the effect of mentoring beginning principals and their growth and development in their first year assignment. Decades of research has suggested that the initial years of the principalship are critically important in order to accelerate mastery of the skills needed to lead change in schools and enhance student achievement. Good mentors are key to providing needed knowledge, time, and commitment to support mentees who are transitioning from classroom teachers to leaders of change. The support to aspiring or beginning principals in their first year is central to evaluating and documenting the competency and skill development of these individuals. This mixed-methods investigation sought to discover the relationships between quantitative assessments and participant responses in an effort to determine whether the process of mentoring principals enhanced participant's skill and leadership development. The results indicate a significant increased on preto post-scores in all areas of the Ohio Leadership Advisory Council modules as well as across the factors of the Leadership Practices Inventory, with the exception being the Encourage factor. The qualitative responses provided three emergent themes: the importance of relationships, support through communication, and value of networking opportunities were the areas that resonated with the participants. Implications for further research deemed that the training and selection of mentors should be examined. In addition, the impact of mentoring on principals and/or superintendents should be examined for the potential impact on tenure longevity.


The genus Bordetella contains three widely studied species: Bordetella pertussis, B. parapertussis, and B. bronchiseptica. These gram-negative coccobacilli cause respiratory disease in humans and other mammals. The significance of insertion sequence (IS) elements to the evolution of B. pertussis and B. parapertussis is discussed. The bordetellae provide an opportunity to propose hypotheses to answer questions about speciation, host restriction, and differences in genotype that could account for virulence phenotypes. This was the rationale behind the Bordetella genome sequence project in which the genome sequences of representative strains of B. bronchiseptica, B. pertussis, and B. parapertussis were generated and analyzed. The evolution of any bacterium is shaped by the selection pressures faced by the organism. The evolution of species toward causing highly contagious infections, but with a low infectivity period, from a progenitor that is much less contagious but with a very prolonged infectious period is a recurrent theme in the evolution of human pathogens. A number of putative mutations are predicted to increase the level of expression of the pertussis toxin (PT) genes in B. pertussis compared to B. bronchiseptica or B. parapertussis, and this might have contributed to the change from chronic to acute infections during B. pertussis evolution. Analysis of B. parapertussis reveals that it appears to have evolved in the face of selection pressure against the expression of factors that might be recognized by existing host immunity, but in this case directed against B. pertussis.


Abolition of LH-induced ERK1/2 pathway leads to dramatic changes in gene expression in granulosa cells, subsequently abrogating ovulation. Here we explored whether sustained ERK1/2 signaling beyond the immediate early hours of LH surge is important for ovulation in mice. First, we examined the effect of inhibition of ERK1/2 activity at 4h after hCG stimulation on ovulation in superovulated immature mice. Treatment with the ERK1/2 pathway inhibitor PD0325901 at 4h post-hCG disrupted follicular rupture without altering cumulus expansion, oocyte meiotic maturation and luteinization. Profiling the expression pattern of genes of the RSK family of ERK1/2 signal mediators revealed that RSK3, but not other isoforms, was induced by hCG treatment. Further, RSK3-knockout mice were sub-fertile with reduced ovulation rate and smaller litter size compared to wild type mice. Given that PD0325901 inhibits all mediators of ERK1/2 signaling, we chose to evaluate the gene expression underlying deficient follicular rupture in ERK1/2 inhibited mice. We found that inhibition ERK1/2 signaling at 4h post-hCG resulted in imbalance in the expression of genes involved in extracellular matrix degradation and leukocyte infiltration necessary for follicular rupture. In conclusion, our data demonstrate that sustained ERK1/2 signaling during ovulation is not required for cumulus expansion, oocyte meiotic maturation and luteinization, but is required for follicular rupture.


Objectives Integrated funds for health and social care are one possible way of improving care for people with complex care requirements. If integrated funds facilitate coordinated care, this could support improvements in patient experience, and health and social care outcomes, reduce avoidable hospital admissions and delayed discharges, and so reduce costs. In this article, we examine whether this potential has been realized in practice. Methods We propose a framework based on agency theory for understanding the role that integrated funding can play in promoting coordinated care, and review the evidence to see whether the expected effects are realized in practice. We searched eight electronic databases and relevant websites, and checked reference lists of reviews and empirical studies. We extracted data on the types of funding integration used by schemes, their benefits and costs (including unintended effects), and the barriers to implementation. We interpreted our findings with reference to our framework. Results The review included 38 schemes from eight countries. Most of the randomized evidence came from Australia, with nonrandomized comparative evidence available from Australia, Canada, England, Sweden and the US. None of the comparative evidence isolated the effect of integrated funding; instead, studies assessed the effects of 'integrated financing plus integrated care' (i.e. 'integration') relative to usual care. Most schemes (24/38) assessed health outcomes, of which over half found no significant impact on health. The impact of integration on secondary care costs or use was assessed in 34 schemes. In 11 schemes, integration had no significant effect on secondary care costs or utilisation. Only three schemes reported significantly lower secondary care use compared with usual care. In the remaining 19 schemes, the evidence was mixed or unclear. Some schemes achieved short-term reductions in delayed discharges, but there was anecdotal evidence of unintended consequences such as premature hospital discharge and heightened risk of readmission. No scheme achieved a sustained reduction in hospital use. The primary barrier was the difficulty of implementing financial integration, despite the existence of statutory and regulatory support. Even where funds were successfully pooled, budget holders' control over access to services remained limited. Barriers in the form of differences in performance frameworks, priorities and governance were prominent amongst the UK schemes, whereas difficulties in linking different information systems were more widespread. Despite these barriers, many schemes – including those that failed to improve health or reduce costs – reported that access to care had improved. Some of these schemes revealed substantial levels of unmet need and so total costs increased. Conclusions It is often assumed in policy that integrating funding will promote integrated care, and lead to better health outcomes and lower costs. Both our agency theory-based framework and the evidence indicate that the link is likely to be weak. Integrated care may uncover unmet need. Resolving this can benefit both individuals and society, but total care costs are likely to rise. Provided that integration delivers improvements in quality of life, even with additional costs, it may, nonetheless, offer value for money.


Picking up where Bushido: Legacies of the Japanese Tattoo left off, join Horiyuki as she studies the art of Japanese tattooing with Master Horiyoshi III. Jill "Horiyuki" Mandelbaum takes you on a very candid firsthand account of her exploratiion. Follow her through text and over 270 color photographs into the studios and home of Horiyoshi as well as the shrines and temples of Japan. Offering a bold, new, and very Western perspective to studying the Japanese tattoo, this book is a must have for anyone interested in tattoo arts and cross-cultural study. With a foreword by Takahiro "Horitaka" Kitamura, this book also features never before published photos of tattoos by Horiyoshi III.


This chapter examines critical theories of democracy which are concerned with the type of legitimacy that is exercised through various forms of transnational political agency. By focusing on the specific normative principle that underwrites these theories – the principle of all affected interest – the chapter highlights the importance of recognizing that a great deal of 'transnational political agency' might also be regarded as urbanized. The aim of this chapter is to expand the understanding of the sorts of actors and activities to which 'agency' can be plausibly attributed in describing the emergence of contemporary forms of transnational political agency. Realising this aim requires a consideration of the necessarily mediated qualities of political agency, and the associated de-centering of models of agency as the preserve of conventional political actors, whether these are political parties, states or voters. Three forms of mediation of political agency will be addressed: mediation through networks of communicative action, through modes of representative claims-making, and through the distributed effects of combinations of humans, technologies, and conventions. Section I discusses theorists of transnational democracy who focus on the political agency of 'bottom-up' contentious social movements in democratizing processes. The agency attributed to social movements is understood as being enacted in distributed fields of communicative action. In Section II, it is argued that if the theoretical emphasis on communicative action as a medium of democratic political agency is recognized, then this increases the significance of situated contexts in which grievances emerge. Section III outlines an agenda for investigating the relationships between the situated contexts of being affected by temporally and spatially extensive socio-economic processes and the generation of transnational political agency.


This article argues that although the NLD government continues to adhere to the "independent, active, and non-aligned foreign policy," the policy will be implemented through multiple tracks in diplomacy with a possibility of stronger focus on people-to-people contacts and multilateralism. The NLD's foreign policy, in terms of objectives and principles, is not new but it is different, as adjustments are made in the realm of diplomacy. The reasons for this lack of foreign policy change or transformation are that (1) the predecessor USDP government has more or less adjusted the country's foreign policy, (2) the Tatmadaw (Myanmar Armed Forces) continues to exercise strong influence over the foreign policy process, (3) the emerging geopolitical environment in the Asia-Pacific region shapes the country's foreign policy choices, and (4) the NLD's leadership style and political mandate provide little room for public access and input in foreign policy decision-making. It is expected that activism in Myanmar's foreign policy will be once again centre stage, with more dynamic diplomacy being conducted through multiple tracks under the NLD government. Aung San Suu Kyi's fame and global influence is perhaps the most important asset and driving force behind Myanmar's return to the world of international diplomacy. Myanmar's foreign policy under the NLD government, while retaining the survival and security of the state at its core, will not aim for the narrow interest of regime survival, but instead for the best interests of both state and society in Myanmar.


Objective. To compile an injury profile of 46 fast bowlers aged 11 - 18 years, and to identify the associated risk factors for injury during one academy cricket season.
Methods. The fast bowlers selected were tested and observed for one academy cricket season (March - November). Subjects were grouped into injury classifications (uninjured=S1; injured but able to play=S2; injured and unable to play=S3). Anthropometrical and postural data for the subjects were collected preseason
(T1). Physical fitness screenings were conducted and the relationship between fitness and occurrence of injuries was assessed. Additional factors such as bowling techniques and
bowling workload were assessed. A regression analysis was conducted to analyse the relationship between bowling workload and weeks incapacitated.
Results. Fifteen per cent of the subjects remained injury free for the duration of the season. The incidence of serious injury (S3) showed a statistical and moderate, practical significant increase (V=0.23, df≥2) throughout the data collection period (4% at T1 - 30% at T3 (post-season)). The most common injuries were to the knee (41%) and lower back (37%), occurring from mid-season (T2) to T3. The nature of the injuries was predominantly strains
(39%) and 'other' (39%), with the highest reported incidence during the period T1 - T3. Sprains followed, with an overall incidence of 14%. Subjects were incapacitated approximately 1 out of every 7 weeks of play. The S1 and S2 bowlers performed consistently
better than the S3 bowlers in all the fitness variables tested. Bowling workload presented a statistically significant (p South African Journal of Sports Medicine Vol. 20 (4) 2008: pp. 115-118


Competitive accelerators can help startups overcome resource constraints and the liability of newness, but they are also highly selective when choosing startups. However, little is known about how a top accelerator selects startups and what the decision criteria are in that process. Here, we analyze a unique dataset of the real profiles of the startups that applied to the first seed accelerator in Southeast Asia and the accelerator's decisions to uncover the selection process and latent criteria. We used a scoreboard of 30 criteria based on the real-win-worth (Is it real? Can it win? Is it worth doing?) framework to compare the profiles of the selected versus the rejected startups. Our analyses revealed that accelerator managers' implicit decision criteria shifted from eight real or win criteria in the initial screening of many startups to another four win or worth criteria in the final selection of a small number of startups. These critical criteria were further used to build regression models that predict screening and selection results. Understanding the shifting decision criteria may inform accelerator managers of their own subconscious preferences to improve the decision process, and as a result also increase entrepreneurs' empathy toward accelerator managers to sharpen their applications.


Tectal glioma is a midbrain tumor. The patient generally presents with symptoms related to increased intracranial pressure and requires treatment for hydrocephalus. No effective pharmacological treatments have yet been introduced. This report discusses a case of a 13-year-old male diagnosed with tectal glioma who obtained a complete response and long-term survival after the treatment with antineoplastons (ANP) in phase II trial. Prior treatment consisted of placement of a ventriculoperitoneal shunt. After 6 years of stabilization there had been an increase in tumor size with signs of malignant transformation. The patient received treatment with ANP A10 and AS2-1 infusions for 20 months, obtained a complete response, and was switched to maintenance with ANP capsules. All treatments were discontinued in December 2003. Adverse events according to CTCAE v3.0 included: hypernatremia (two events of grade 3, one event of grade 2, four events of grade 1), one case of fatigue (grade 2), and one allergic reaction (grade 1). Currently, over 20 years from his diagnosis and over 13 years from treatment start he is symptom-free and leads a normal life. This report indicates that it is possible to obtain long-term survival of a child with tectal glioma with currently available investigational treatment.


This thesis is the first in-depth study o f music regularly heard by a community that grew from 0.5 million to 3.72 million people between 1850 and 1962. The sheer quantity and variety o f material is enormous; but much o f it is rapidly disappearing, since the music is no longer in regular use. Regardless o f its often dubious quality it is a socio-musical phenomenon that cannot be ignored. No assessment of music in England can be complete without it. The period is bounded by two events: the restoration o f the Episcopal Hierarchy, and the opening o f the Second Vatican Council. It is bisected by Pius X's influential 'Motu Proprio' decree Tra le Sollectudini of 1903. The quotation in the titlecomes from Cardinal Wiseman's mid-nineteenth-century hymn God Bless Our Pope; highlighting the uneasy symbiotic relationship between English Catholics and Rome. There are three sections. Part 1, after discussing perceptions o f Catholic music, describes the historical, hturgical and legislative framework. Part 2 examines trends shaping the musical agenda: developments in plainchant, the revival of Renaissance polyphony, the emergence o f vernacular hymnody and Benediction music, the role o f the organ, and events during the 1950s. Part 3 (in a separate volume) provides a detailed analysis of repertoire, based on a representative sample of musical collections and sources organised into databases on the accompanying CD and Zip disk. This is a new technique in musicology. For the first time, instead of relying on pronouncements by individual commentators and ecclesiastical authorities, backed by selective study of particular pieces o f music, people's actual experience 'on the ground' can be measured; the importance, in this context, o f developments in the music publishing industry can be properly assessed; and the degree o f centralised (sometimes foreign) control actually exerted within an apparently monolithic and authoritarian church can be measured.


Three principal forms of structural realism are distinguished in this thesis: weak epistemic structural realism (WESR), strong epistemic structural realism (SESR) and ontic structural realism (OSR). In chapter 1, it is argued that the positive argument in favour of WESR, i.e. the claim that it can accommodate the no miracles argument and the pessimistic induction is unconvincing, because (i) the no miracles argument is flawed, so it is no particular virtue of WESR that it can accommodate it and (ii) it is not clear that WESR really can accommodate the pessimistic induction. In chapter 2, it is argued that there are unresolved difficulties in drawing the observable/unobservable distinction (or an appropriate alternative distinction) in a way that is suitable for the WESRist's purposes. In chapter 3, it is argued that the main argument for SESR is unconvincing, because it is based on Russell's principle of acquaintance (or a modern variant of this principle), a principle for which no substantial argument has been given and which has absurd consequences (as shown in appendix 2). In chapter 4, it is argued that neither the WESRist nor the SESRist has provided a convincing response to Newman's objection. In chapter 5, it is argued that, depending on how one interprets the doctrine, OSR is either (i) wholly untenable or (ii) conventional scientific realism (or antirealism) combined with the traditional metaphysical view that objects are bundles of properties and that in the latter case the doctrine has some plausibility, but the arguments that have been adduced in favour of it are inconclusive. The thesis is concluded with a sketch of the sort of position in the scientific realism debate that I find more attractive.


Japan, 1939. Two orphaned brothers are growing up with loving grandparents who inspire them to dream of a future firmly rooted in tradition. The older boy, Hiroshi, shows signs of promise at sumo wrestling, while Kenji is fascinated by the art of Noh Theatre masks. But as the ripples of war spread, the brothers must put their dreams on hold-and then forge their own paths in a new Japan. Meanwhile, the two young daughters of a renowned sumo master find their lives increasingly intertwined with the rising fortunes of their father's star pupil, Hiroshi.Gail Tsukiyama has written her masterpiece: a powerfully moving story of tradition and change, of loss and renewal, and of the enduring strength of family ties at a crucial turning point in modern history.


Evidence has accumulated indicating the existence of a second complement activation mechanism which is functionally analogous to C1, C2, and C4. The noncomplement protein C3PA, previously recognized through its ability to form a complex enzyme with a protein from cobra venom, appears to be the precursor of the C4,2 analogue. It is a thermolabile β-globulin with a molecular weight of 80,000. When serum is treated with naturally occurring plant or bacterial polysaccharides, the C3PA is cleaved into at least two fragments, one having the electrophoretic mobility of a γ-globulin and a molecular weight of 60,000, and the other being an acidic peptide with a molecular weight of 20,000. The larger fragment has the ability to cleave C3 into C3a and C3b and is therefore called C3 activator. It arises from the action of an as yet unidentified serum enzyme upon the C3PA, which is tentatively called C3PA convertase. In addition to endotoxins, yeast cell walls, inulin, and agar, aggregates of immunoglobulins were found to be activating substances, including human IgA, guinea pig γ1, and duck antibody. Serum depleted of C3PA had reduced E. coli bactericidal and increased hemolytic activity. The relationship of the C3-activator system to experimental and clinical observations has been discussed.


The dietetic treatment of pernicious anemia is of more importance than hitherto generally recognized. Forty-five patients with pernicious anemia observed essentially in sequence are continuing to take a special diet that they have now been living on for from about six weeks to two years but which was temporarily omitted by three. This diet is composed especially of foods rich in complete proteins and iron—particularly liver —and containing an abundance of fruits and fresh vegetables and relatively low in fat. Following the diet, all the patients showed a prompt, rapid and distinct remission of their anemia, coincident with at least rather marked symptomatic improvement, except for pronounced disorders due to spinal cord degeneration. Improvement was often striking, so that where the red blood cell count averaged for all before starting the diet 1,470,000 per cubic millimeter, one month afterward it averaged 3,400,000; and for the twenty-seven cases observed from four to six months after the diet was begun, the average count was 4,500,000 per cubic millimeter. Patients having had two or more relapses showed on the average slightly lower red blood corpuscle counts about one and two months after commencing the diet than did those who had started it in their first or second relapse. Change in the frequency of bowel movements, temporary increase of reticulocytes in the peripheral blood, and decrease of the icterus index of the blood serum were among the earliest signs that heralded the patient's better health. All the patients have remained to date in a good state of health except three, who discontinued the diet; two rapidly improved on resuming it and the other has just commenced it again. As the diet was advised for most of the patients less than eight months ago, enough time has not yet elapsed to determine whether or not the remissions will last any longer than in other cases.


Improved comparability of nutrient concentrations in seawater is required to enhance the quality and utility of measurements reported to global databases. Significant progress has been made over recent decades in improving the analysis and data quality for traditional laboratory measurements of nutrients. Similar efforts are required to establish high-quality data outputs from in situ nutrient sensors, which are rapidly becoming integral components of ocean observing systems. This paper suggests using the good practices routine established for laboratory reference methods to propose a harmonized set of deployment protocols and of quality control procedures for nutrient measurements obtained from in situ sensors. These procedures are intended to establish a framework to standardize the technical and analytical controls carried out on the three main types of in situ nutrient sensors currently available (wet chemical analyzers, ultraviolet optical sensors, electrochemical sensors) for their deployments on all kinds of platform. The routine reference controls that can be applied to the sensors are listed for each step of sensor use: initial qualification under controlled conditions in the laboratory, preparation of the sensor before deployment, field deployment and finally the sensor recovery. The fundamental principles applied to the laboratory reference method are then reviewed in terms of the calibration protocol, instrumental interferences, environmental interferences, external controls, and method performance assessment. Data corrections (linearity, sensitivity, drifts, interferences and outliers) are finally identified along with the concepts and calculations for qualification for both real time and time delayed data. This paper emphasizes the necessity of future collaborations between research groups, reference-accredited laboratories, and technology developers, to maintain comparability of the concentrations reported for the various nutrient parameters measured by in situ sensors.


Aims: Nitric oxide (NO) in peripheral venous blood has been shown to be elevated in experimental portal hypertension. This study aims to determine the serum NO levels in patients with extrahepatic portal venous hypertension (EHPVO) pre- and postoperatively and to analyze whether these can serve as a reliable and early indicator of shunt blockage or malfunction. Materials and Methods: During the period 2006–2010, 48 children with EHPVO were included in this prospective study; 40 underwent porto-systemic shunt and eight underwent splenectomy with devascularization. NO was evaluated preoperatively, 14 days after surgery, at 3 months and then 6 monthly thereafter. The median follow-up duration was 21 months. Shunt patency was confirmed with Doppler and computed tomography portography. Forty-eight age-matched children with hypospadias served as controls. Results: NO was higher in EHPVO patients as compared with controls (43.16 ± 16.27 vs. 5.76 ± 2.62 μmol/l) (P = 0.0001). There was a significant decline in the NO levels (4.64 ± 3.18 μmol/l) following shunt surgery (P = 0.0001), and it continued to remain low till the shunt was patent. A shunt block was indicated by rising NO levels in all five patients. The devascularization group also demonstrated a significant decline in the NO levels (27.06 ± 3.56 μmol/l) (P = 0.002), but it was less as compared with the shunted patients. The decline in the portal pressure after shunt surgery was found to correlate with the decline in the serum NO levels. Conclusions: The blood levels of NO can be used in the diagnosis of portal hypertension, and are useful for monitoring the patency of the shunt.


Virtual Reality experiences, such as games and simulations, typically support the usage of bimanual controllers to interact with virtual objects. To recreate the haptic sensation of holding objects of various shapes and behaviors with both hands, previous researchers have used mechanical linkages between the controllers that render adjustable stiffness. However, the linkage cannot quickly adapt to simulate dynamic objects, nor it can be removed to support free movements. This paper introduces GamesBond, a pair of 4-DoF controllers without physical linkage but capable to create the illusion of being connected as a single device, forming a virtual bond. The two controllers work together by dynamically displaying and physically rendering deformations of hand grips, and so allowing users to perceive a single connected object between the hands, such as a jumping rope. With a user study and various applications we show that GamesBond increases the realism, immersion, and enjoyment of bimanual interaction.


This study deals with Dominicus Gundissalinus's discussion on metaphysics as philosophical discipline. Gundissalinus's translation and re-elaboration of al-Fārābī's Iḥṣā' al-ʿulūm furnish him, in the De scientiis, a specific and detailed procedure for metaphysical analysis articulated in two different stages, an ascending and a descending one. This very same procedure is presented by Gundissalinus also in his De divisione philosophiae, where the increased number of sources –in particular, Avicenna– does not prevent Gundissalinus to quote the entire passage on the methods of metaphysical science from the Iḥṣā' al-ʿulūm, with some slight changes in his Latin translation. The analytical procedure herein proposed becomes an effective 'metaphysical programme' with regards to Gundissalinus's onto-cosmological writing, the De processione mundi. The comparative analysis of this treatise with the procedure received by al-Fārābī shows Gundissalinus's effort to follow and apply this metaphysical programme to his own reflection, in a whole different context from al-Fārābī's and presenting doctrines quite opposed to the theoretical ground on which al-Fārābī's epistemology is based, like ibn Gabirol's universal hylomorphism. Nevertheless, thanks to the application of the 'metaphysical programme', one can effectively claim that Gundissalinus's metaphysics is, at least in the author's intentions, a well-defined metaphysical system. In appendix to this article the three Latin versions of al-Fārābī's discussion on metaphysics are reported, e.g., Gundissalinus's quotations in De scientiis and De divisione philosophiae, and Gerard of Cremona's translation in his De scientiis.


Controllable synthesis of III–V compound semiconductor nanowires (NWs) with high crystallinity and uniformity is essential for their large-scale practical use in various technological applications, especially for those which are grown on non-crystalline substrates. In this study, the catalytic effect is investigated thoroughly in the growth of various III–V NWs in solid-source chemical vapor deposition, including Pd, Ag and Ni catalyzed GaAs NWs and Au catalyzed InGaAs and GaSb NWs. It is found that small diameter catalyst seeds lead to faster NW growth with better crystal quality, while large seeds result in slower NW growth with kinked morphology and twinning defects. Importantly, these small catalyst nanoparticles are observed to have higher solubility of the group III precursors due to the Gibbs–Thomson effect, which not only enables effective III precursor diffusion for a faster growth rate, but also yields epitaxial growth of NWs from the catalyst seeds accounting for the low activation energy and better crystallinity. All these results explicitly demonstrate the effectiveness of this catalyst solubility and epitaxy engineering for controlled III–V NW growth and indicate the potency for the reliable production of high-performance NWs for next-generation electronics.


The complexity and demands of wildland firefighting in the western U.S. have increased over recent decades due to factors including the expansion of the wildland-urban interface, lengthening fire seasons associated with climate change, and changes in vegetation due to past fire suppression and timber harvest. In light of these changes, the use of more wildland fire on the landscape could reduce fuels and form barriers to the spread of future fires while performing forest restoration in some areas. However, the risks, costs and benefits of changing fire response strategy have not been quantified. Here, we identify gaps regarding the ability to simulate alternative wildfire suppression strategies, due to a number of factors including limited data collected on fireline construction, as well as synergies between firefighting resources and resource effectiveness. We present a fire management continuum: at one end lies full suppression of all fires under all circumstances, and at the opposite end lies no suppression of any fires regardless of location or time in season, with a wide array of managed fire options falling in between. Next, we demonstrate the proof-of-concept using a stochastic fire simulation model, FSim, to simulate two alternative fire suppression strategies close to opposite ends of this continuum for the Sierra National Forest of California: (1) business-as-usual, which equates to nearly full fire suppression; and (2) full suppression of human-caused fires and no suppression actions on lightning-caused fires. Results indicate that fire management strategy can substantially affect the number of large fires and landscape burn probabilities, both of which were shown to increase under the second scenario. However, temporal feedbacks are expected to play an important role: we show that increases in burned area substantially limit ignition potential and the extent of subsequent fires within the first five to ten years, especially under the second scenario. While subject to current data gaps and limitations in fire modeling, the methodology presented here can be used to simulate a number of alternative fire suppression strategies, including decisions to suppress or not suppress fires based on location, time of season or other factors. This method also provides basic inputs needed to estimate risks, costs and benefits of various alternative suppression strategies in future work. In future work, uncertainties resulting from current limitations in knowledge can be addressed using techniques such as scenario planning in order to provide land managers with a set of possible fire outcomes.