Most evaluations of public works programs in developing countries study their effects on poverty reduction and other labor market outcomes (job creation, earnings, and participation). However, very few look at other collateral effects, such as the incidence of violence. Between 2009 and 2014, El Salvador implemented the Temporary Income Support Program, which aimed to guarantee a temporary minimum level of income to extremely poor urban families for six months, as well as provide beneficiaries with experience in social and productive activities at the municipal level. Making use of a panel data set at the municipal level for 2007 to 2014, with monthly data on different types of crime rates and social program benefits by municipalities, this paper assesses the effects of the program on crime rates in municipalities in El Salvador. There are several possible channels through which the Temporary Income Support Program can affect crime. Since the program is associated with cash transfers to beneficiaries, a reduction in economically motivated crimes is expected (income effect). But since the program enforces work requirements and community participation, this could generate a negative impact on crime, because the beneficiaries will have less time to commit crime and because of community deterrence effects. Overall, the paper finds a robust and significant negative impact of the Temporary Income Support Program on most types of crimes in the municipalities with the intervention. Moreover, the negative effects of the program on some types of crime rates hold several years after participation. Positive spillover effects for municipalities hold within a radius of 50 kilometers.


Industrial Statistics with MINITAB demonstrates the use of MINITAB as a tool for performing statistical analysis in an industrial context. This book covers introductory industrial statistics, exploring the most commonly used techniques alongside those that serve to give an overview of more complex issues. A plethora of examples in MINITAB are featured along with case studies for each of the statistical techniques presented.Industrial Statistics with MINITAB:Provides comprehensive coverage of user-friendly practical guidance to the essential statistical methods applied in industry.Explores statistical techniques and how they can be used effectively with the help of MINITAB 16.Contains extensive illustrative examples and case studies throughout and assumes no previous statistical knowledge.Emphasises data graphics and visualization, and the most used industrial statistical tools, such as Statistical Process Control and Design of Experiments. Is supported by an accompanying website featuring case studies and the corresponding datasets.Six Sigma Green Belts and Black Belts will find explanations and examples of the most relevant techniques in DMAIC projects. The book can also be used as quick reference enabling the reader to be confident enough to explore other MINITAB capabilities.


A major challenge is to build simple intuitive macroeconomic models for policy-makers and professional economists as well as students. A specific contemporary challenge is to account for the prolonged slow growth and stagnant productivity that has followed the post-financial crisis recession, along with low inflation despite low unemployment (notably in the UK). We set out a simple three-equation model, which extends the core model in our two recent books (Carlin and Soskice, 2006, 2015) to one with two equilibria and two associated macroeconomic policy regimes. One is the standard inflation-targeting policy regime with equilibrium associated with central bank inflation targeting through monetary policy. It is joined by a second, Keynesian policy regime and equilibrium, with a zero lower bound (ZLB) in the nominal interest rate and a ZLB in inflation in which only fiscal policy is effective (Ragot, 2015). Our approach is related to the Benigno and Fornaro (2016) Keynesian–Wicksellian model of growth with business cycles. It diverges from New Keynesian models because although we attribute model-consistent expectations to the policy-maker, we do not assume that these are the basis for inflation and growth expectations of workers and firms. We compare our approach to Ravn and Sterk's related multiple equilibrium New Keynesian model (Ravn and Sterk, 2016).


A slow adenosine triphosphatase reaction in a clock protein combined with a slow conformational change in another clock protein sets the pace of a circadian clock. Circadian clocks keep organisms in sync with such daily cycles as illumination, activity, and food availability. The circadian clock in cyanobacteria has the necessary 24-hour period despite its three component proteins having biochemical activities that occur on a much faster time scale. Abe et al. focused on the cyanobacterial clock component KaiC, an adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) that can autophosphorylate and autodephosphorylate. The slow ATPase activity of KaiC, which is linked to a peptide isomerization, provided the slow kinetics that set the speed of the 24-hour clock. Chang et al. found that another clock component, KaiB, also has slow changes in its protein conformation that help to set the oscillation period of the clock and its signaling output. J. Abe, T. B. Hiyama, A. Mukaiyama, S. Son, T. Mori, S. Saito, M. Osako, J. Wolanin, E. Yamashita, T. Kondo, S. Akiyama, Atomic-scale origins of slowness in the cyanobacterial circadian clock. Science 349, 312–316 (2015). [Abstract] [Full Text] Y.-G. Chang, S. E. Cohen, C. Phong, W. K. Myers, Y.-I. Kim, R. Tseng, J. Lin, L. Zhang, J. S. Boyd, Y. Lee, S. Kang, D. Lee, S. Li, R. D. Britt, M. J. Rust, S. S. Golden, A. LiWang, A protein fold switch joins the circadian oscillator to clock output in cyanobacteria. Science 349, 324–328 (2015). [Abstract] [Full Text]


The Chicago Great Western Railroad was a spunky midwestern carrier that contributed mightily to the transportation industry. The 1,500-mile CGW, built by the iconoclastic and ambitious A. B. Stickney, proved to be exceptionally innovative as it developed new ways to compete with larger railroads. Pitted against tough, determined competitors, the CGW during its eighty-five years made innovations that changed the history of American transportation. Among the pioneering activities for which the Great Western is remembered are the early use of internal combustion equipment, the hauling of truck trailers atop flatcars ("piggy-backs"), and the use of extremely long freight trains. Indeed, much of the railroad's past supports the notion that smaller, less-established carriers like the CGW frequently stimulated changes in industry thinking and practices. In spite of its innovations, the path of the Great Western, sometimes called the "Great Weedy," did not always run smoothly. In the 1930s, John W. Barriger III quipped, "The Chicago Great Western is a mountain railroad in a prairie country serving a traffic vacuum." Such a negative assessment was not uncommon for this Granger pike, which in fact climbed some steep grades and owned a long tunnel. And while the road did not operate in a "traffic vacuum," its competitors were well entrenched and robust. By 1903, the CGW served the strategic gateways of Chicago, Kansas City, Minneapolis-St. Paul, St. Joseph, and Omaha. Between Chicago and the Twin Cities alone, the company competed with six other roads. When the Chicago & North Western acquired the Great Western in 1968, one of America's most imaginative railroads disappeared. "The Corn Belt Route" is the first scholarly treatment of the Chicago Great Western Railroad, a company that has long intrigued the railfan, whether collector, modeler, photographer, or historian. Richly illustrated, this book tells the lively story of one of the great small railroads that once served the Midwest.


Pre-treatment of plants with foliar sprays of 0.2, 0.5 and 2% phosphite restricted colonisation by Phytophthora cinnamomi in inoculated stems of Adenanthos barbiger and Daviesia decurrens, and led to a reduction in the isolation of P. cinnamomi from these stems in comparison with unsprayed plants. In plants treated with 2% phosphite, P. cinnamomi was not isolated from D. decurrens but was isolated from 22% of the stems of A. barbiger. In Xanthorrhoea preissii, colonisation by, and isolation of, P. cinnamomi from inoculated roots was not significantly affected by pre-treatment of the foliage with 0.2, 0.5 and 2% phosphite. Very low concentrations of phosphite were detected in the roots of X. preissii (maximum mean of 2.2 μg/g dry weight), in comparison with the phosphite concentrations measured in the foliage of A. barbiger and D. decurrens plants treated with phosphite (maximum means of 80 and 871 μg/g dry weight, respectively). Treatment with 0.2% phosphite resulted in minimal phytotoxicity in each of the three species, whereas treatment with 2% phosphite led to the development of severe phytotoxicity symptoms. This study indicates that phosphite has potential for the management of P. cinnamomi in native plant communities.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
Whether human mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) can be transplanted is controversial and their presence in peripheral blood is not fully accepted. In the present study we have analyzed whether, within the allogeneic transplantation setting, MSC are of host or donor origin.

DESIGN AND METHODS
Bone marrow MSC from 19 patients who had undergone allogeneic transplantation were expanded and identified using immunophenotypic markers. After that, chimerism studies were performed using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction of short tandem repeat (STR) loci. Analyses were carried out at different time-points after transplantation, with a total of 44 samples studied. Bone marrow was used as the source of stem cells for transplantation in 4 cases and peripheral blood in 15 cases. The conditioning regimen was standard in 9 patients and non-myeloablative in 10 patients.

RESULTS
Our results show that in the great majority of cases analyzed (17 out 19), MSC were of host origin. However, in 2 patients with multiple myeloma who had received a reduced intensity transplantation using peripheral blood stem cells, MSC were partially of donor origin (60.17% and 26.13% of total MSC).

INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS
These findings indicate that after allogeneic transplantation MSC from the donor can engraft in bone marrow. Moreover, since the stem cells were obtained from peripheral blood, it can be concluded that MSC circulate among mobilized peripheral blood stem cells and can engraft in bone marrow after allogeneic transplantation.


Aims. We have investigated how a flux ratio analysis of the light curves of cataclysmic variables can be used to calculate the luminosity irradiating the secondary star in the classical novae QU Vul, V Per, DD Cir, DN Gem, V1432 Aql, and WY Sge. Methods. We undertook phase-resolved, near-infrared K band photometry of QU Vul and V Per. Using data from QU Vul we show how flux ratios taken between fiducial orbital phases in the light curves of irradiated CVs can be used to measure the degree of heating of the secondary star. We compared the heating effect obtained from flux ratio analysis with more formal modelling, or by measurements taken from the literature, and found good agreement. We used the results to determine how irradiation changes with time since the nova outburst. Results. The light curve of QU Vul shows the presence of two maxima in the K band, which are displaced from phase 0.25 towards the 0.5 phase position, as would be expected from heating of the inner face of the secondary star by radiation from hot primary. Nova V Per, on the other hand shows evidence for a hot spot on the accretion disc, and it would appear that heating of the inner face is not occurring. The results of the flux ratio analysis of the objects examined are plotted as a function of time since the nova explosions occurred. There is marginal evidence for a decline in flux with time since the outburst, superimposed on considerable scatter, which is likely to be caused by the different temperature reached in each nova explosion. The decline is consistent with the declines others have seen. We conclude that it is the decline in reprocessed irradiation from the cooling white dwarf alone, rather than a decline in mass transfer rate, that could be the cause of the decrease in optical brightness seen in old novae.


The type III TGF-β receptor inhibits migration through β-arrestin 2 and Cdc42. The type III transforming growth factor (TGF)–β receptor (TβRIII) presents ligands to types I and II TGF-β receptors, which then activate Smad transcription factors. Loss of TβRIII correlates to poor clinical outcome in multiple cancers, and restoration of TβRIII decreases cancer cell motility and invasion in vitro. Mythreye and Blobe found that migration was reduced in ovarian (Ovca429) and breast (MDA-MB231) cancer cell lines overexpressing TβRIII, whereas it was enhanced in normal ovarian epithelial cells (NOSE007) transfected with a short hairpin RNA (shRNA) directed against TβRIII. In addition, NOSE007 cells transfected with the TβRIII shRNA exhibited altered morphology, such as increased formation of stress fibers and lamellipodia compared with control cells. Various manipulations expected to block classical TGF-β signaling [such as treatment with the TβRI inhibitor SB431542, expression of a dominant-negative TβRII construct, incubation with a function-neutralizing TGF-β receptor antibody, or transfection of a small interfering RNA (siRNA) against Smad2] did not affect the ability of TβRIII to inhibit migration. In contrast, expression of a dominant-negative form of the small guanosine triphosphatase Cdc42, but not a dominant-negative form of Rac1, abrogated the inhibitory effect of TβRIII overexpression on migration in Ovca429 cells. Transfection of an siRNA targeting β-arrestin 2, a previously identified binding partner of TβRIII, prevented Cdc42 activation and reduced migration in TβRIII-overexpressing Ovca429 cells. The authors suggest that activation of Cdc42 through β-arrestin 2 may constitute a tumor suppressor function of TβRIII that is independent of TGF-β. K. Mythreye, G. C. Blobe, The type III TGF-β receptor regulates epithelial and cancer cell migration through β-arrestin2-mediated activation of Cdc42. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 106, 8221–8226 (2009). [Abstract] [Full Text]


We study the budgeted bandit problem, where each arm is associated with both a reward and a cost. In a budgeted bandit problem, the objective is to design an arm pulling algorithm in order to maximize the total reward before the budget runs out. In this work, we study both multi-armed bandits and linear bandits, and focus on the setting with continuous random costs. We propose an upper condence bound based algorithm for multi-armed bandits and a condence ball based algorithm for linear bandits, and prove logarithmic regret bounds for both algorithms. We conduct simulations on the proposed algorithms, which verify the eectiveness of our proposed algorithms.


Comprehensive immigration reform has long eluded Congress. Although the Senate recently passed a bill—S. 744, or the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act—that would take significant steps toward comprehensive reform, it is currently being held up in the Republican-controlled House. The sticking point? The "path to citizenship" provision for undocumented immigrants included in the Senate bill. Yet legalizing a significant proportion of the undocumented immigrant population would not impose serious costs on either the economy in general or the social insurance system in particular. On the contrary: maintaining the status quo would be economically wasteful.


The second issue in the exciting and experimental cross-disciplinary series Findings on... by Astrid van Baalen and Hester Aardse from the Pars Foundation is centred on ELASTICITY in the broadest sense of the word. What happens when one gives a simple rubber band to an architect, historian, choreographer, chemist, artist, mathematician, physicist, economist, anthropologist, and geologist and asks each of them for a statement on elasticity? The economist studies the elasticity of supply and demand of market forces. The architect calculates the elasticity of the steel structure of a building during an earthquake. The anthropologist studies the flow of people returning to their homes in the wake of a natural disaster. The choreographer pushes the elasticity of his dancers' movements as they rehearse a new dance. The Pars Foundation draws researchers out of their specialized niches in order to publish their brilliant, crazy, important, or bewildering results and assembles them in this interdisciplinary volume. Findings on Elasticity is the second part of a publication series that together will constitute an atlas of creative thinking. There are no guidelines for the form their contributions must take. It may be images, poems, essays, sketches on coasters, formulas, a piece of sculpture or a piece of string; the editors only ask that a contribution reflect the respondent's own field as well as his or her passion for the topic.


Preface, Elena L. Grigorenko Introduction, Ruby Takanishi 1. Children of Immigrants and the Future of America, Donald J. Hernandez, Nancy A. Denton, and Suzanne E. Macartney 2. Differences in Social Transfer Support and Poverty for Immigrant Families with Children: Lessons from the LIS, Timothy Smeeding, Coady Wing, and Karen Robson 3. Disentangling Nativity Status, Race/Ethnicity, and Country of Origin in Predicting the School Readiness of Young Immigrant Children, Jessica Johnson De Feyter and Adam Winsler 4. Preparing the Way: Early Head Start and the Socio-Emotional Health of Latino Infants and Toddlers, Krista M. Perreira, Linda Beeber, Todd Schwartz, Diane Holditch-Davis, India Ornelas and Lauren Maxwell 5. Latinos and Early Education: Immigrant Generational Differences and Family Involvement, Eugene E. Garcia, Kent Scribner, and Delis Cuellar 6. Diversity in Academic Achievement: Children of Immigrants in US Schools, Jennifer E. Glick and Littisha Bates 7. Latino/a Immigrant Parents' Voices in Mathematics Education, Marta Civil and Nuria Planas 8. Cultural Incongruence Between Teachers and Families: Implications for Immigrant Students, Selcuk R. Sirin and Patrice Ryce 9. Special Educational Needs of Children in Immigrant Families, Dylan Conger and Elena L. Grigorenko 10. Two Generations of Educational Progress in Latin American Immigrant Families in the U.S: A Conceptual Framework for a New Policy Context, Ariel Kalil and Robert Crosnoe 11. Does It Begin At School Or Home? Institutional Origins Of Overweight Among Young Children In Immigrant Families, Jennifer Van Hook, Elizabeth Baker and Claire Altman 12. Parenting of Young Immigrant Chinese Children: Challenges Facing their Social Emotional and Intellectual Development, Charissa S. L. Cheah and Jin Li 13. More than the A-B-C's and 1-2-3's: The importance of family cultural socialization and ethnic identity development for children of immigrants' early school success, Amy Kerivan Marks, Flannery Patton and Cynthia Garcia Coll 14. Emergent Literacy in Immigrant Children: Home and School Environment Interface, Iliana Reyes and Yuuko Uchikoshi 15. Development of Tolerance and Respect for Diversity in Children in the context of Immigration, Oscar Barbarin, Micaela Mercado and Dari Jigjidsuren Conclusion: Commenting On What We Know and What We Need to Learn, Elena L. Grigorenko


Abstract On 16 June 1999, I found a Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis) nest parasitized by a Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater). On 22 June the female scaup had begun incubating the 10 scaup eggs but the cowbird egg was missing, presumably ejected by the female scaup.


Firms are increasingly becoming interested in harnessing the potential of online social networks for marketing purposes. Marketers are therefore interested in understanding the antecedents and consequences of relationship formation within such social networks and in predicting the interactivity among users. In this paper we develop an integrated statistical framework for simultaneously modeling the connectivity structure of multiple relationships of different types on the same set of individuals. Our modeling approach accommodates both the directionality and intensity of network connections and in particular, we show how sparse network connections can be modeled when dealing with weighted relationships. We develop hierarchical Bayesian methods for inference for the resulting model, and then apply our model to data from an online social network of music artists. In our application we model friendship, communication and music download relationships among these artists. We find that these relationships are impacted by common antecedents and users exhibit similar roles across the three relationships. We also find that it is crucial to model the sparsity of connections so as to recover and predict the macrostructure of the network connections.


Agreements are key outcomes in restorative justice conferences. However, there is debate over the effectiveness of such agreements to reduce post-conference offending. Research suggests that many young offenders are satisfied with their agreements and perceive them as fair. We know less about the linkages between young offenders' experiences with agreements and post-conference offending. Drawing on observation and interview data from 32 young offenders who attended conferences, we found that nearly all young people felt their agreements were satisfactory and fair. However, most offenders felt that the agreement phase of the conferencing process did not have an impact on their post-conference offending behaviour. These findings further inform the debate over agreement requirements and have policy implications for conferencing programmes. © 2013


This work describes the development of an image processing algorithm, the implementation of that algorithm as both a strictly hardware design and as a multi-core software design, and the side-by-side comparison of the two implementations. In the course of creating the multi-core software design, several improvements are made to the OpenFire soft core microprocessor that is used to create the multi-core network. The hardware and multi-core software implementations of the image processing algorithm are compared side-by-side in an FPGAbased test platform. Results show that although the strictly hardware implementation leads in terms of lower power consumption and very low area consumption, modi cation of and programming for the multi-core software implementation is simpler to perform.


Textile-to-textile recycling from cotton textiles can be done either mechanically or chemically. In chemical textile recycling of cotton there are challenges to overcome in order to regenerate new fibres. Two of the challenges among others are reactive dyes and wrinkle-free finishes that could disturb the regeneration process steps since these finishes are covalently linked to the cellulose.This poster discusses the impact of using a novel alkaline/acid bleaching sequence to strip reactive dyes and wrinkle-free finish (DMDHEU) from cotton textile for production of regenerated viscose fibre properties. The results might generate a promising step forward to overcome quality challenges for cellulosic chemical recycling.


Silaborative carbocyclization of 1,6-enynes catalyzed by Pd-PEPPSI-IPr {PEPPSI=pyridine-enhanced precatalyst preparation stabilization and initiation; IPr=N,N-bis[2,6-(diisopropyl)phenyl] imidazolium} employing either (dimethylphenylsilyl) pinacolborane or (chlorodimethylsilyl)pinacolborane provides access to densely functionalized five-membered rings as single diastereomers in excellent yields. The vinylboronate functions were employed in palladium-catalyzed Suzuki cross-coupling reactions with a range of aryl bromides, containing electron-with-drawing as well as electron-donating substituents, furnishing arylated exo-methylenecyclopentanes or exo-methylenepyrrolidines in good yields. Subsequent oxidation of the isopropoxydimethylsilyl function generated via addition of (chlorodimethylsilyl)-pinacolborane provided access to hydroxymethyl derivatives of the arylated compounds. Use of a chiral ester, bismenthyl (2-propenyl)(2-propynyl)malonate, afforded two diastereomeric products which could be separated, thereby giving access to the cyclized compounds as single isomers, with opposite absolute configurations at the newly formed stereocenter.


Agriculture is the most important economic sector of Uganda and it employs roughly 80 % of the work force. Ninety per cent of the country's farmers are smallholders. The Masaka district is the country's agricultural hub for coffee (Coffea spp. L.) and the most important food crops are banana (Musa spp. L.), beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz.), maize (Zea mays L.), sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.) and other tropical fruits, vegetables and cereals. Pests and diseases have been presenting increasing problems due to the climate change and newly introduced pathogens and pest species. At the same time, the population growth has led to an increased land pressure and chemical input use, which has impacted the soil fertility, the environment and the health of farmers and consumers. Indigenous knowledge, such as the use of pesticidal plants, is at the risk of becoming extinct
due to a lack of documentation and scientific evaluation.
This thesis is an attempt to collect and scientifically document the knowledge of local farmers on traditional methods of pest and disease management in the Masaka region through qualitative research.

It furthermore tries to investigate reasons for a lack of knowledge transfer to farmers from previous generations as well as from agricultural advisors from the governmental side and from nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), and to explore possibilities of improvement of knowledge access
for farmers. The research questions were developed focussing on the pests and diseases farmers are facing in the region, their methods of management, the effectiveness of these methods, their sources of knowledge behind them, opinions of farmers and advisors on chemical pesticides, and possibilities to improve farmers' knowledge on pest and disease management.

To address these questions, semi-structured interviews were conducted in the Masaka region on seven different days with 43 farmers in seven different locations. Farmers were asked to discuss questions in focus groups in four locations. Additionally, interviews were conducted with advisory staff from the government and with employees from non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Over the whole period, literature was collected and reviewed.

It was found that most local methods of pest management have been taught to farmers by agricultural advisors rather than being adopted from the parents, mostly because the previous generations were not facing the same problems as the present one. At the same time, the knowledge transfer to farmers from extensionists and NGOs was limited due to a lack of financial support from the government, and there
was also a distinct lack of exchange between scientists and farmers. As a consequence, there was both a paucity of knowledge about alternatives to pesticides and the appropriate use of chemical methods.

Another issue found was that newly introduced cattle races require high chemical input. The problems found can only be solved by a combination of different measures. The extension system needs to receive more financial support, to revise its policy framework, and to focus more strongly on the farmers' education in traditional methods. NGOs, which are already teaching such methods, need to reach more farmers and to develop a better overarching managerial system and collaboration both amongst each other and with the governmental advisory network. Lastly, academics and universities need to improve their exchange with the practitioners, as from the side of the latter, openness to such an exchange exists to a large extent.


Concerned with interpolation between two objects defined using a faceted representation. The interpolation function is not examined, but the paper emphasizes the problem of correspondence between the two given key drawings. The problem is much more complex than interpolation between line drawings, because the two key drawings generally have a different total number of vertices, a different total number of facets and corresponding facets have a different number of vertices. A general algorithm is proposed based on a criterion of minimal dynamic displacement. There are numerous applications of the method: simulation of biological evolution, animation, portrait-robots


Tate Britain's major conference, held in collaboration with Birkbeck, University of London and culture at King's College London, marks the opening of the exhibition Artist and Empire. Scholars, curators and artists from around Britain and the world consider art created under the conditions of the British Empire, its aftermath, and its future in museum and gallery displays.
Scholarship of art associated with the British Empire has expanded over the last two decades, across a huge span of disciplines and locations. This conference takes the historic opportunity of the exhibition, featuring diverse artists from the sixteenth century to the present day, to bring together people to meet and share the latest research being developed around this subject. The papers, roundtables and audience discussions will consider the cosmopolitan character of objects and images, and the way geographical, cultural and chronological dislocations have in many instances obscured, changed or suppressed their history, significance and aesthetics. We will also explore how approaches to contemporary art, archives, curation and collecting can help develop new ways to look at them now.

As part of the discussion between Himid, Bhimji and Borchardt-Hume we explored the content of the exhibition itself examining the stated principles and aims, where it had succeeded and perhaps more interestingly where it had failed.


The highest part of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, more than 4000 m above sea level, has been an area that has seen a considerable scientific research effort undertaken by the Chinese National Antarctic Research Expedition, and its international collaborators, since January 2005. That includes the establishment of the most remote of the Chinese Antarctic stations, Kunlun, at Dome A in 2009. However, the exploration and mapping of this region had been commenced many decades earlier, most notably by inland traverses of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics during the 1957–1958 International Geophysical Year (IGY) and later; and the extensive surveys of Antarctic surface and sub-ice topography by airborne radio-echo sounding made by the US National Science Foundation–Scott Polar Research Institute–Technical University of Denmark (NSF-SPRI-TUD) in the late-1960s and the 1970s. Here we provide a history of the activities and achievements of these earlier programs. Recent topographic maps of the ice sheet surface in the Dome A region, produced using Chinese GPS data and satellite altimetry, have shown the maps compiled from the earlier data were remarkably accurate. Citation: Gan I, Drewry D, Allison I, et al. Science and exploration in the high interior of East Antarctica in the twentieth century. Adv Polar Sci, 2016, 27: 65-77, doi: 10.13679/j.advps.2016.2.00065


Prior research indicates that adolescent offenders transferred to adult court are more likely to re- cidivate than those retained in the juvenile system. The studies supporting this conclusion, however, are limited in addressing the issue of heterogeneity among transferred adolescents. This study estimates the effect of transfer on later crime using a sample of 654 serious juvenile offenders, 29% of whom were transferred. We use pro- pensity score matching to reduce potential selection bias, and we partition the sample on legal characteristics to examine subgroup effects. We find an overall null effect of transfer on re-arrest, but evidence of differential effects of transfer for adolescents with different offending histories. These results suggest that evaluating the effects of transfer


The 2011 uprisings in the Middle East have deeply shaken the traditional media landscape in the region. They have also reinvigorated scholarly interest in the role of the media in the region's conflicts. Alternative media has emerged as an important avenue for investigation—in particular with resistance and counterhegemonic narratives. However, the complexity and heterogeneity of this sphere have received less attention. The aim of this article is to reveal the heterogeneity in the alternative media sphere that developed in Syria after the 2011 uprising. The article contributes, first, to an understanding of the conflict itself and the role of sectarianism therein and, second, to a more complex conceptualization of alternative media within conflict contexts. We explore these issues by analyzing the diverse framings of sectarian divisions in Syrian oppositional media.


The study seeks to examine the transition of international Sub-Saharan African students joining a UK University situated in the North of England.

This research study examines the existing literature on the transition of international students into higher education; the factors that influence universities in recruiting international students; the motives of students to study in the UK; the issues prospective international Sub-Saharan African students experience in the process; and the support mechanisms universities have in place.

Using interviews as the primary research method, an empirical inquiry has enabled the researcher to explore areas of transition where no substantive theory existed. The interviews were conducted with international Sub-Saharan African students who were new to the country and had been in the University for only six weeks. The interviews covered the international Sub-Saharan African students' background, their decision to study in the UK and their transitional experiences. The research enquiry found that the majority of respondents in the study were first generations pursuing higher education outside their country of origin.

Generally, the international Sub-Saharan African students in this study agreed that their previous upbringing and educational experiences had impacted on their studies. In retrospect, the decision to come to study in the UK was influenced by their parents, the prestige of obtaining a UK degree, enhancing future prospects and assisting the families in their own countries. The international Sub-Saharan African students encountered a catalogue of problems which had a great impact on their transitions to a UK university. In the name of "education" and a UK qualification, the international African students were prepared to endure difficulties. Such findings regarding these included: limited support during the transition process, in particular prior to the student arriving in the UK, and also upon arriving at a UK airport, but prior to arriving at the University. Induction programmes are conducted generally in academic institutions, but this research shows they are not targeted at meeting the needs of international African students. Prior learning of international students is not considered. There was also inadequate support for students arriving at the University after the induction process. This research explains perceptions the international Sub-Saharan African students held about their transitional experiences, and personal strategies they deployed in order to cope with their new environment.

Whilst the results of the inquiry are in agreement with much of the current literature about international students, this study contributes to the existing knowledge on transition and provides a number of recommendations to the University in order to help improve its transitional processes for international Sub-Saharan African students.


Objective To investigate effects of changes in neonatal service provision on nurse staffing ratios, admissions and provision of respiratory support (CPAP or mechanical ventilation). Design Retrospective, cross-sectional surveys of units providing neonatal intensive care (1997) or all care (2006 and 2011) in English maternity units. Results The response rate was 100% in 1997 and 2006, and 96.4% in 2011 (6 level one units did not respond). The number of whole-time equivalent nurses per cot (WTE/cot) increased between 1997 (0.55 WTE/cot) and 2006 by 0.10 WTE/cot (95% CI 0.06–0.13), and by 0.06 WTE/cot (0.03–0.10) between 2006 and 2011. The ratio of nurses qualified in specialty increased by 0.07 WTE/cot (0.00–0.13) between 1997 and 2006, then by a further 0.05 WTE/cot (0.01–0.09) from 2006 to 2011. The number of admissions per cot was similar in 1995 (41.2) and 2006 (41.9) but increased by 22.7% (10.9–35.9) from 2006 to 2011. Between 1997 and 2006, respiratory support provided increased for each cot by 36.4d (17.5–55.2), and by 1.17d (0.67–1.67) per admission; neither measure changed thereafter. The ratio of babies provided with respiratory support to babies admitted increased from 1997 (0.23) to 2006 by 0.10 (0.07–0.15), by 0.05 (0.2–0.08) from 2006 to 2011, and 0.17 (0.12–0.21) overall. Discussion Neonatal nursing provision changed little since 1997; in contrast neonatal unit activity, hence intensity of cot use, increased from 1997 to 2011, together with the proportion of babies receiving respiratory support.


Background: Long duration of treatment, side-effects of currently used anti-tubercular drugs and emergence of drug-resistant forms of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) warrants the need to develop new drugs to tackle the scourge of tuberculosis (TB). Garlic is an edible plant reported to have anti-tubercular activity. However, previous researches on anti-tubercular effect of garlic were focused mostly on preliminary in vitro screening. Objective: To identify constituents responsible for anti-tubercular activity of thiosulfinate-derivative rich extract of garlic (GE) and to evaluate activity of the most active constituent in RAW 264.7 mouse macrophage cells infected with M. tuberculosis H37Rv (MTBH). Materials and Methods: In the present study, we have isolated eight compounds from GE by flash chromatography. The isolated compounds were characterized by 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Individual isolates and GE were screened for activity against MTBH by Resazurin Microtitre Plate Assay (REMA). Results: Anti-tubercular activity of GE was superior to that of isolates when evaluated by REMA, possibly due to synergism amongst the constituents of GE. Cytotoxicity of GE was evaluated in RAW 264.7 mouse macrophage cells and it was observed that GE had a favorable selectivity index (>10). Therefore, anti-tubercular activity of GE was further evaluated by intracellular macrophage infection model. GE demonstrated concentration-dependent activity in macrophages infected with MTBH. Conclusion: This is the first report on intracellular anti-tubercular activity of any extract of garlic or its components. Appreciable intracellular anti-tubercular activity of GE in macrophages combined with low cytotoxicity makes it a suitable candidate for further development as an anti-tubercular agent. Abbreviations used: TB: Tuberculosis, MTB: Mycobacterium tuberculosis, MTBH: Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv, GE: Thiosulfinate-derivative rich extract of garlic, REMA: Resazurin Microtitre Plate Assay, VD: Vinyldithiin, CFU: Colony forming unit, 1H NMR: 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, FT-IR: Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy, LC-MS: Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, IC50: Concentration required to inhibit the cells by 50%, ANOVA: Analysis of variance.


Combined heat and power (CHP) generation is often used when building new district heating production. CHP makes it possible to simultaneously produce electricity and heat, thus maximizing the energy efficiency of the primary fuel. The heat is used in the connected district heating system while the electricity is sold on the local power market. In a CHP plant it is not possible to separate the physical process of producing heat and electricity, which may cause suboptimal behaviour when high spot prices for power do not coincide with high heat load demand. This paper presents the design and implementation of a system which makes it possible to control the heat load demand in a district heating network in order to optimize the CHP production. By using artificial intelligence technology in order to automate the run‐time coordination of the thermal inertia in a large amount of buildings, it is possible to achieve the same operational benefits as using a large storage tank, albeit at a substantially less investment and operational cost. The system continuously considers the climate in each participating building in order to dynamically ensure that only the best suited buildings at any given time are actively participating in load control. Based on the dynamic indoor climate in each individual building the system automatically controls and coordinates the charging and discharging of the buildings thermal buffer without affecting the quality of service. This paper describes the overall function of the system and presents an algorithm for coordinating the thermal buffer of a large amount of buildings in relation to heat load demand and spot price projections. Operational data from a small district heating system in Sweden is used in order to evaluate the financial and environmental impact of using this technology. The results show substantial benefits of performing such load control during times of high spot price volatility.


I investigate why workers' probability of leaving unemployment has fallen since 1900 by estimating the impact of a large government transfer, the first major pension program in the United States, covering Union Army veterans of the Civil War. The pension, because of the program's rules, was a strict income transfer and these rules create a natural experiment to identify the effects of pensions and health on labor supply. Pensions exerted a large impact on the probability of long-term, but not of short-term unemployment. Estimated hazards suggest that, consistent with a job search model, pensions affected the probability of both entering and exiting unemployment. But, pensions mainly lowered the probability of leaving unemployment. The findings suggest that explanations for the secular rise in long-term unemployment should focus on factors such as the secular increase in wealth and the increased availability and generosity of unemployment benefits.


This paper develops a framework that decomposes the international productivity gap of exporters into a selection effect and a competitiveness effect. This framework implies that the international productivity gap of exporters between two countries can be explained by three variables: the average productivity gap, the export participation rates, and the export premia within each country. The empirical analysis reveals that the exporters' productivity gap does not exclusively reflect the competitiveness of the industry, mainly because of the selection effect. These results imply that both the competitiveness and selection effects matter for explaining the cross-country productivity gap of exporters.


A public art movement initiated by the postrevolutionary state, Mexican muralism has long been admired for its depictions of popular struggle and social justice. Mary K. Coffey revises traditional accounts of Mexican muralism by describing how a radical art movement was transformed into official culture, ultimately becoming a tool of state propaganda. Analyzing the incorporation of mural art into Mexico's most important public museums—the Palace of Fine Arts, the National History Museum, and the National Anthropology Museum—Coffey illuminates the institutionalization of muralism and the political and aesthetic issues it raised. She focuses on the period between 1934, when Jose Clemente Orozco and Diego Rivera were commissioned to create murals in the Palace of Fine Arts, through the crisis of state authority in the 1960s. Coffey highlights a reciprocal relationship between Mexico's mural art and its museums. Muralism shaped exhibition practices, which affected the politics, aesthetics, and reception of mural art. Interpreting the iconography of Mexico's murals, she focuses on representations of mestizo identity, the preeminent symbol of postrevolutionary Mexico. Coffey argues that those gendered representations reveal a national culture project more invested in race and gender inequality than in race and class equality.


A preliminary conceptual design study for Korean DEMO Reactor (K-DEMO) as an activity for Korean Fusion Energy Development Promotion Law (FEDPL) enacted in 2007 was started. A solid-type breeding blanket is the preliminary blanket concept in K-DEMO. As the candidates for the coolant of K-DEMO blanket, helium and water are under investigation through a comparative study of neutronics analysis. The preliminary concept design for inboard and outboard-side blankets for K-DEMO based on the present engineering feasibility has been carried out. The inboard and outboard-side blankets assume the form of several segmented blanket modules. In this work, the dimension for both inside and outboard-side blankets in the K-DEMO is essentially the same. A breeding blanket with a new cooling method, so-called a plate-type blanket, is proposed. In this concept, the plate-type blanket consists of separated individual rectangular parallelepiped cases for breeders and multipliers without a separate pipe system for cooling flow paths. This paper describes the current status of K-DEMO blanket conceptual design study.


Summary: The authors describe a case of systemic lupus erythematosus associated with marked intracerebral calcifica tion. The distribution of high signal on Tl-weighted MR images was almost identical to the distribution of calcification on CT; however, the bodies of caudate nuclei with little calcification on CT also showed high intensities on Tl-weighted images.


The purpose of the study is to explore the trend in natural fertility and its components in China over half a century from the 1940s to the 1980s. One of the most important components of fertility, natural fertility and its secular rising trend in modern China, have never been systematically addressed, thus providing the scope for the present study. By fully using recent information on China's population and social development, this thesis documents and analyses the trend of natural fertility in China since the 1940s. The literature review of natural fertility and its proximate and background determinants comes as the first part after the introduction. An important methodological part of the study comes next. The main data sources are introduced, problems of applying Coale and Trussell's model are discussed and an adjusted version of the model is proposed. Finally, technical problems are also addressed, including such matters as modifying data sources to meet required measurements, assessing the limitations of estimated results, suggesting ways to avoid data truncation and so on. The major part of the thesis consists in the next four chapters, which involve a thorough demographic analysis of natural fertility levels and trends for the nation as a whole, and of different aspects such as urban-rural differentials, regional variations and educational divergences. The proximate determinants: fecundability and birth intervals, breastfeeding, primary sterility, and age at first marriage are also analyzed at length. Finally, the importance of socio-economic conditions on natural fertility change is analysed. The quantitative relationship between natural fertility and these socio-economic conditions was statistically tested and an analytical model was built, which proves to be well able to simulate the identified trends in natural fertility.


OBJECTIVE
To compare the long-term clinical and histologic outcome of immediate autografting of full-thickness burn wounds ablated with a high-power continuous-wave CO2 laser to sharply débrided wounds in a porcine model.

SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA
Continuous-wave CO2 lasers have performed poorly as tools for burn excision because the large amount of thermal damage to viable subeschar tissues precluded successful autografting. However, a new technique, in which a high-power laser is rapidly scanned over the eschar, results in eschar vaporization without significant damage to underlying viable tissues, allowing successful immediate autografting.

METHODS
Full-thickness paravertebral burn wounds measuring 36 cm2 were created on 11 farm swine. Wounds were ablated to adipose tissue 48 hours later using either a surgical blade or a 150-Watt continuous-wave CO2 laser deflected by an x-y galvanometric scanner that translated the beam over the tissue surface, removing 200 microm of tissue per scan. Both sites were immediately autografted and serially evaluated clinically and histologically for 180 days.

RESULTS
The laser-treated sites were nearly bloodless. The mean residual thermal damage was 0.18+/-0.05 mm. The mean graft take was 96+/-11% in manual sites and 93+/-8% in laser sites. On postoperative day 7, the thickness of granulation tissue at the graft-wound bed interface was greater in laser-debrided sites. By postoperative day 180, the manual and laser sites were histologically identical. Vancouver scar assessment revealed no differences in scarring at postoperative day 180.

CONCLUSIONS
Long-term scarring, based on Vancouver scar assessments and histologic evaluation, was equivalent at 6 months in laser-ablated and sharply excised sites. Should this technology become practical, the potential clinical implications include a reduction in surgical blood loss without sacrifice of immediate engraftment rates or long-term outcome.


Plasma metabolite analysis is frequently used to assess the energetic state and energy intake of birds. Plasma β-hydroxybutyrate (BUTY) is a common metabolite used in these studies, and is correlated with fasting and mass loss. BUTY is typically quantified in laboratory assays that are costly, time-consuming, and prone to human error. We tested the accuracy and precision of a field-ready handheld BUTY meter. We compared BUTY concentration values obtained in the laboratory and with the handheld meter in plasma samples from 19 Grasshopper Sparrows (Ammodramus savannarum), and assessed precision with repeat analysis of a single sample. The handheld meter reported BUTY concentrations in < 2 min, was highly precise, and as accurate as the laboratory assay method—all ideal for field conditions. Collecting blood samples for laboratory analysis, particularly from remote field sites, involves a series of risks and challenges for permitting or the logistics of storage and shipping, as well as the associated costs. Analyzing samples on site, whether with the unit we tested or other similar handheld meters, makes plasma metabolite analysis practical and possible in field conditions and for taxa where this technique has been underused due to permitting, transport, or other logistical constraints of laboratory analysis methods. The cost of analysis is similar on a per sample basis, but, without the need to store and transport samples, using handheld meters in the field may be cheaper.


The quest for open research data is the driving force behind the development of the whole area of research data management practices. We, as a university library, offer and develop support to researchers and doctoral students. Based on the result of a web survey submitted to all researchers at Malmö University, and the knowledge that doctoral students are on their way of forming their individual research practices, we have made doctoral students our first target group for specific seminars and workshops promoting conscious research data management practices. We will organise these seminars and workshops, which both take into account the general aspects of research data management and the discipline specific practices, so as to develop integrated research data management support in close relation to doctoral students' research practices.


This paper investigates the development of house prices in Copenhagen in the period 1994-2013, while paying special attention to the heterogeneous impact of the boom and bust periods along the dimensions of housing type (single vs multifamily housing), geography and quality. To allow for price developments that can differ by quality, we use a recently developed generalization of the conventional Muth model that assumes a constant unit price across the quality spectrum. It allows us to separately consider the development of house prices and quality in Copenhagen neighbourhoods. Moreover, we investigate the validity of the common assumption of a constant unit price and reject it decisively. We use detailed housing transaction data for the greater Copenhagen area. We show that the housing boom of the 2000's and the bust that followed hit the lowest quality segments significantly harder than the high quality segments of the housing market.


[1] Antarctic ice shelves interact closely with the ocean cavities beneath them, with ice shelf geometry influencing ocean cavity circulation, and heat from the ocean driving changes in the ice shelves, as well as the grounded ice streams that feed them. We present a new coupled model of an ice stream-ice shelf-ocean system that is used to study this interaction. The model is capable of representing a moving grounding line and dynamically responding ocean circulation within the ice shelf cavity. Idealized experiments designed to investigate the response of the coupled system to instantaneous increases in ocean temperature show ice-ocean system responses on multiple timescales. Melt rates and ice shelf basal slopes near the grounding line adjust in 1–2 years, and downstream advection of the resulting ice shelf thinning takes place on decadal timescales. Retreat of the grounding line and adjustment of grounded ice takes place on a much longer timescale, and the system takes several centuries to reach a new steady state. During this slow retreat, and in the absence of either an upward-or downward-sloping bed or long-term trends in ocean heat content, the ice shelf and melt rates maintain a characteristic pattern relative to the grounding line.


Cognitive radio (CR) with spectrum-sharing feature is a promising technique to address the spectrum under-utilization problem in dynamically changing environments. In this paper, the achievable capacity gain of spectrum-sharing systems over dynamic fading environments is studied. To perform a general analysis, a theoretical fading model called hyper-fading model that is suitable to the dynamic nature of CR channel is proposed. Closed-form expressions of probability density function (PDF) and cumulative density function (CDF) of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for secondary users (SUs) in spectrum-sharing systems are derived. In addition, the capacity gains achievable with spectrum-sharing systems in high and low power regions are obtained. The effects of different fading figures, average fading powers, interference temperatures, peak powers of secondary transmitters, and numbers of SUs on the achievable capacity are investigated. The analytical and simulation results show that the fading figure of the channel between SUs and primary base-station (PBS), which describes the diversity of the channel, does not contribute significantly to the system performance gain. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Canada's lacklustre performance on the OECD's test of adult literacy, numeracy and problem solving has raised questions about the quality of provincial education systems, but the explanation for the poor scores lies elsewhere, according to a new C.D. Howe Institute report. In "Underperforming Adults? The Paradox of Skills Development in Canada," author Andrew Parkin determines the real reason for the lackluster performance of Canada's adults and makes recommendations on how to address skills deficits.


CONTEXT
The rate of prescription opioid-related overdose death increased substantially in the United States over the past decade. Patterns of opioid prescribing may be related to risk of overdose mortality.

OBJECTIVE
To examine the association of maximum prescribed daily opioid dose and dosing schedule ("as needed," regularly scheduled, or both) with risk of opioid overdose death among patients with cancer, chronic pain, acute pain, and substance use disorders.

DESIGN
Case-cohort study.

SETTING
Veterans Health Administration (VHA), 2004 through 2008.

PARTICIPANTS
All unintentional prescription opioid overdose decedents (n = 750) and a random sample of patients (n = 154,684) among those individuals who used medical services in 2004 or 2005 and received opioid therapy for pain. Main Outcome Measure Associations of opioid regimens (dose and schedule) with death by unintentional prescription opioid overdose in subgroups defined by clinical diagnoses, adjusting for age group, sex, race, ethnicity, and comorbid conditions.

RESULTS
The frequency of fatal overdose over the study period among individuals treated with opioids was estimated to be 0.04%.The risk of overdose death was directly related to the maximum prescribed daily dose of opioid medication. The adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) associated with a maximum prescribed dose of 100 mg/d or more, compared with the dose category 1 mg/d to less than 20 mg/d, were as follows: among those with substance use disorders, adjusted HR = 4.54 (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.46-8.37; absolute risk difference approximation [ARDA] = 0.14%); among those with chronic pain, adjusted HR = 7.18 (95% CI, 4.85-10.65; ARDA = 0.25%); among those with acute pain, adjusted HR = 6.64 (95% CI, 3.31-13.31; ARDA = 0.23%); and among those with cancer, adjusted HR = 11.99 (95% CI, 4.42-32.56; ARDA = 0.45%). Receiving both as-needed and regularly scheduled doses was not associated with overdose risk after adjustment.

CONCLUSION
Among patients receiving opioid prescriptions for pain, higher opioid doses were associated with increased risk of opioid overdose death.


Acoustic scattering by a given inhomogeneity can be compactly described by a scattering operator. This operator acts on the transmitted acoustic field to yield the scattered acoustic field on a measurement surface. For scattering at fixed frequency, the operator is known to admit a basis of eigenfunctions. When a finite number of transmit angles and receiving points is considered, the scattering operator can be represented as a matrix with an associated basis of eigenvectors. The present paper reports an investigation of the relationship between these eigenfunctions, eigenvectors, and associated eigenvalues and the characteristics of scattering objects, including their location, size, shape, orientation, and strength. Scattering operators are derived analytically for axisymmetric scatterers such as cylinders; in this case, the eigenfunctions of the operators take on simple trigonometric forms. Connections are noted between the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the scattering operators and the basis functions that appear in orthogonal function representations of the scattered fields. Scattering matrices for arbitrary scatterers are calculated using a coupled finite‐element/integral equation method due to Kirsch and Monk [IMA J. Num. Anal. (to appear)]. Examples of the relationship between scatterer properties and eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the scattering matrix are presented.


Posted by Christian Hilber and Paul Cheshire, SERC and LSE QuantitativeEasing (QE) has been pursued by Central Banks in many countries, few more diligently than in the US and in the UK. Reports from experienced watchers of commercial real estate suggest this could generate a flood of cheap money – not into productive investment but into the higher yields offered by commercial real estate or its liquid versions, Real Estate Investment Trusts. This is because QE pushes yields on bonds and securities ever further below the rate of inflation. Such shifts are already said to be visible in the US where the economy is doing just a bit better than in the UK or Europe. Of course this pushes down yields in real estate in proportion to pushing up market values. According to the FT (£) there could already be signs of this in London.


Steady-state Water Distribution Network models compute pipe flows and nodal heads for assumed nodal demands, pipe hydraulic resistances, etc. The nonlinear mathematical problem is based on energy and mass conservation laws which is solved by using global linearization techniques, such as global gradient algorithm (GGA). The matrix of coefficients of the linear system inside GGA belongs to the class of sparse, symmetric and positive definite. Therefore a fast solver for the linear system is important in order to achieve the computational efficiency, especially when multiple runs are required. This work aims at testing three main strategies for the solution of linear systems inside GGA. The tests are performed on eight real networks by sampling nodal demands, considering the pressure-driven and demand-driven modelling to evaluate the robustness of solvers. The results show that there exists a robust specialized direct method which is superior to all the other alternatives. Furthermore, it is found that the number of times the linear system is solved inside the GGA does not depend on the specific solver, if a small regularization to the linear problem is applied, and that pressure-driven modelling requires a greater number which depends on the size and topology of the network and not only on the level of pressure deficiency.


Modeling data with linear combinations of a few elements from a learned dictionary has been the focus of much recent research in machine learning, neuroscience, and signal processing. For signals such as natural images that admit such sparse representations, it is now well established that these models are well suited to restoration tasks. In this context, learning the dictionary amounts to solving a large-scale matrix factorization problem, which can be done efficiently with classical optimization tools. The same approach has also been used for learning features from data for other purposes, e.g., image classification, but tuning the dictionary in a supervised way for these tasks has proven to be more difficult. In this paper, we present a general formulation for supervised dictionary learning adapted to a wide variety of tasks, and present an efficient algorithm for solving the corresponding optimization problem. Experiments on handwritten digit classification, digital art identification, nonlinear inverse image problems, and compressed sensing demonstrate that our approach is effective in large-scale settings, and is well suited to supervised and semi-supervised classification, as well as regression tasks for data that admit sparse representations.


The ASTEC/V2.0 computer code was used to simulate a hypothetical severe accident sequence in the nuclear power plant Krsko, a two-loop pressurized water reactor (PWR) plant. ASTEC is an integral code jointly developed by Institut de Radioprotection et de Surete Nucleaire (IRSN, France) and Gesellschaft fur Anlagen- und Reaktorsicherheit (GRS, Germany) to assess nuclear power plant behaviour during a severe accident. The analysis was conducted in two steps. First, the steady state calculation was performed in order to confirm the applicability of the plant model and to obtain correct initial conditions for the accident analysis. The second step was the calculation of the station blackout accident with a leakage of the primary coolant through degraded reactor coolant pump seals, which was a small LOCA without makeup capability. Two scenarios were analyzed: one with and one without the auxiliary feedwater (AFW). The latter scenario, without the AFW, resulted in earlier core damage. In both cases, the accident ended with a core melt and a reactor pressure vessel failure with significant release of hydrogen. In addition, results of the ASTEC calculation were compared with results of the RELAP5/SCDAPSIM calculation for the same transient scenario. The results comparison showed a good agreement between predictions of those two codes.


The report is devoted to current political issues. The report is published in the Student Paper Contest "Elections: Principles and Prospects of power in Contemporary Russia", Tambov State University, 2005.


Background: Chikungunya viral infection in Bangladesh has marked 2017 summer with unprecedented magnitude for the first time. Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) and Dengue virus (DENV) are arboviruses that share the same Aedes mosquito vectors and thus overlap in their endemic areas.These two viruses cause similar clinical presentations, especially in the initial stages of infection. Because the outcomes and management strategies for these two viruses are different, early and accurate diagnosis is imperative. Early diagnosis is also important for surveillance and outbreak control.Objective: As virus isolation is not undergoing in the country and antigen based commercial detection assay is not available for CHIKV we used one step real time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method to detect and discriminate CHIKV and DENV in blood during suspicious clinical symptoms.Results: By this RT-PCR method we have detected 603 cases of CHIKV and 233 cases of DENV and thus facilitated rapid diagnosis and clinical management in the recent CHIKV outbreaks in the country.Conclusion: This is the first report about molecular detection and differentiation of CHIKV and DENV at time of clinical presentation and further show evidence of simultaneous outbreaks of both the viral infections in the country.Pulse Vol.10 January-December 2017 p.6-11


Disaster handling stills not yet walk in an optimal fashion as should applied in indonesian. this matter provable with the frequently of activity responbility emergency from
every region to limit the wide speading of impact from disaster towards society and vinicity environment that done soon after disaster happens. while, exactly activity in stage pre disaster of vital importance to is not forgetted, because what prepared in this stage has been capital in face of disaster and after disaster. concern various flood disaster event in general often happen in Indonesian, show important character and cognizance about meaning and value from a information and communication media to detect good event phenomenons at first disaster, at the (time) of also After the happening of disaster. communication media functioneds as public tool to detect various information alive society center, supposed can fulfil society need information in life a country. while this matter doesn't quit of a journalism work form that enclose existing event into a message form. character a supposed journalist/journalist can to composed fact in yard so that be a information that accountable truely and universal.
Leave from thinking and troubleshoot on, researcher interested to uncover farther into watchfulness form with title" news construction Jawa Pos newspaper and Surya towards flood disaster tackling and landslide by december edition unlucky regency government 2007" . where
does this watchfulness aim detect news construction Jawa Pos newspaper Pos and Surya towards flood disaster tackling and landslide by december edition unlucky regency government 2007.
This watchfulness kind qualitative watchfulness because in this watchfulness will uncover about news construction of java newspaper Pos and Surya towards flood disaster
tackling and landslide by december edition unlucky regency government 2007 where as the data collecting process will be got from media then the result will be elaborated descriptively qualitative. subject in this watchfulness person  one who can give data that need in watchfulness, so that subject that chosen journalist from Surya daily mass media and Pos java daily mass media especially at Redaction area interview the data collecting process and
documentation. qualitative analysis by using method framing Pan and Kosickhy that consist of syntax, script, tematik and retoris, where is function from ware supposed can explain journalist strategy in composed, write, and spell out facts based on reality construction it meant into
message form that presented in daily where do they work mass media.
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temporary in rhetorical aspect, known that in message presentation, daily also Jawa Pos same donews construction as according to fact or data that reported from field or insident place with espoused facts, evidence, picture (graphic) or witness then inscribed in the form of statement (syntax), despite of several News covers that done by daily sun without espoused by graphic existence in message dish.


Abstract. Wielkopolska as a geographical and historical land covers the area of the central and western part of Poland. Its territorial boundaries have changed over the centuries. In 1793, as a result of the second partition of Poland, Wielkopolska was incorporated into Prussia. From 1815 – after the re-occupation of Polish lands by Prussia – the Grand Principality of Poznań was established based on the decisions of the Vienna Congress. In its territory, the Prussian power gradually began to implement rural relations in the Prussian style. In 1823, the Prussian power started an agricultural land reform on the territory of the Grand Principality of Poznań. The reform involved the separation of peasant land from grange land and determined what peasant farms may be enfranchisemented and on what terms. The course of the reform was richly documented cartographically and descriptively. Cartographic material (plans, maps) as well as descriptive – enfranchisement recessions, to a large extent preserved to the present times and are stored in the State Archives in Poland. The paper presented the genesis and the method of these materials – how they were created, what they were about and what they contained. Spatial changes taking place in rural areas were significant. The layout of rural lands and the manner of land management underwent reconstruction. Buildings of peasants were often transferred to other places. New roads were created or their course changed. The agricultural reform initiated in 1823 had a huge impact on today's appearance of the Wielkopolska countryside.


The aim of this study has been to prepare and characterise oil resistant cellulosic materials, ranging from model surfaces to papers and aerogels. The cellulosic materials were made oil resistant by chemical and topographic modifications, based on surface energy, surface roughness and barrier approaches. Detailed wetting studies of the prepared cellulosic materials were made using contact angle measurements and standardised penetration tests with different alkanes and oil mixtures. A significant part of the activities were devoted to the development of model cellulosic surfaces with different degrees of crystalline ordering for the wetting studies. Crystalline cellulose I, II and amorphous cellulose surfaces were prepared by spin-coating of cellulose nanocrystal or microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) dispersions, with Langmuir-Schaefer (LS) films or by a layer-by-layer (LbL) deposition technique. The formation of multilayers consisting of polyethyleneimine (PEI)/anionic MFC or cationic MFC/anionic MFC was further studied and optimized in terms of total layer thickness and adsorbed amount by combining Dual Polarization Interferometry (DPI) or Stagnation Point Adsorption Reflectrometry (SPAR) with a Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation (QCM-D). The smooth cellulosic surfaces prepared had different molecular and mesostructure properties and different surface energies as shown by X-ray diffraction, Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) imaging, ellipsometry measurements and contact angle measurements. The cellulose model surfaces were found to be ideal for detailed wetting studies, and after the surface has been coated or covalently modified with various amounts of fluorosurfactants, the fluorinated cellulose films were used to follow the spreading mechanisms of different oil mixtures. The viscosity and surface tension of the oil mixtures, as well as the dispersive surface energy of the cellulose surfaces, were found to be essential parameters governing the spreading kinetics. A strong correlation was found between the surface concentration of fluorine, the dispersive surface energy and the measured contact angle of the oil mixtures. Silicon surfaces possessing structural porous characteristics were fabricated by a plasma etching process. The structured silicon surfaces were coated with sulfate-stabilized cellulose I nanocrystals using the LbL technique. These artificial intrinsically oleophilic cellulose surfaces were made highly oleophobic when coated with a thin layer of fluorinated silanes. By comparison with flat cellulose surfaces, which are oleophilic, it is demonstrated that the surface energy and the surface texture are essential factors preventing oil from spreading on the surface and, thus, inducing the observed macroscopic oleophobic properties. The use of the MFC for surface coating on base papers demonstrated very promising characteristics as packaging materials. Environmental-Scanning Electron Microscopy (E-SEM) micrographs indicated that the MFC layer reduced the sheet porosity, i.e. the dense structure formed by the nanofibers resulted in superior oil barrier properties. Attempts were made to link the procedure for preparation of the MFC dispersions to the resulting microstructure of the coatings, and film porosity and the film moisture content to the resulting permeability properties. Finally, MFC aerogels were successfully prepared by freeze-drying. The surface texture of the porous aerogels was carefully controlled by adjusting the concentration of the MFC dispersion used for the freeze-drying. The different scales of roughness of the MFC aerogels were utilised, together with the very low surface energy created by fluorination of the aerogel, to induce highly oleophobic properties.


Permafrost degradation affects hydrochemistry of surface waters. In particular, evidence of modifications in water quality has been collected in mountain headwaters impacted by rock-glacier thawing. Rock glaciers are slowly flowing mixtures of debris and ice-rich permafrost, and can represent a reservoir of water. Melting ice inside them has been reported to affect surface water hydrochemistry, in some cases causing ecological damages. Investigating the mechanisms for this, however, requires understanding how, where and when rock glaciers and water bodies interact. Moreover, it is necessary to understand how atmospheric forcing can affect the export of physicochemical fluxes from rock glaciers. Different hypotheses have been proposed to explain the main driving weather-climate processes, nevertheless, they are still unclear.
With these goals, hydrology and structural setting of a rock glacier-pond system located in the NW Italian Alps were elucidated using waterborne geophysics (ground penetrating radar, electrical resistivity tomography and self-potential) and heat tracing. An integrated study of atmospheric parameters (air temperature, snow cover duration, rainfall) and physicochemical characteristics of water (water temperature as a proxy of rock-glacier discharge, stable water isotopes, major ions and trace elements) was also performed in the pond on a high-resolution temporal basis (weekly) for two consecutive ice-free seasons.
The advancing movement of the investigated rock glacier has progressively filled the valley depression, creating a dam that could have modified the level of impounded water. A subsurface hydrological window connecting the rock glacier to the pond was also detected, where an inflow of cold underground waters from the rock glacier was observed. Here, greater water contribution from the rock glacier occurred following intense precipitation events during the ice-free season. An outflowing mechanism of the pond is hypothesised and might be associated with the presence of a subsurface seepage.
An intra-seasonal behaviour of solute export from the rock glacier into the pond was found, with increasing solute export associated with higher rock-glacier hydrological contributions. The key finding was the rainfall (after snowmelt depletion) as primary driver of solute export from the rock glacier during the thawing season after warm atmospheric periods, with the flushing of solutes stored in the rock glacier.


In the future, a growing number of combat operations will be carried out by autonomous weapon systems (AWS). At the operational level, AWS would not rely on direct human input. Taking humans out of the loop will raise questions of the compatibility of AWS with the fundamental requirements of international humanitarian law (IHL), such as the principles of distinction and proportionality, as well as complicate allocation of responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

This Article addresses the development toward greater autonomy in military technology along three dimensions: legal, ethical, and political concerns. First, it analyzes the potential dehumanizing effect of AWS with respect to the principles of distinction and proportionality and criminal responsibility.

Second, this Article explores, from an ethical perspective, the advantages and disadvantages of the deployment of AWS independent of legal considerations. Authors from various fields have weighed in on this debate, but oftentimes without linking their discourse to legal questions. This Article fills this gap by bridging these disparate discourses and suggests that there are important ethical reasons that militate against the use of AWS.

Third, this Article argues that the introduction of AWS alters the risk calculus of whether to engage in or prolong an armed conflict. This alteration is likely to make that decision politically more palatable and less risky for the political decision makers.


The objective of this paper is to give insight into the debate over the strategic triangle and how it impacts conflict and security in South Asia. First the new geopolitical motives of the United States in the Asia-Pacific are outlined. Then the concept of strategic triangle is elaborated and its applicability discussed; third, details about China and India's relations and responses to the new US policy are being analyzed; the perspective turns to the implications for conflict and security in South Asia with a focus on Afghanistan and Iran where oil and energy security are the main denominators of foreign policy calculations and moves in the strategic triangle; and finally, some concluding remarks are offered to explain the recent shifts in interactions between these core players in the emerging world order and whether a new geopolitical architecture is emerging.


Low-dimensional magnetic materials have attracted much attention due to their exotic ground states, rich physical properties, and their close relationship to high superconductor materials. Studies on the physical properties of the low-dimensional magnetic materials are useful to probe the mechanism of the fantastic phenomena and develop new function materials. This dissertation focuses on the quantum phase transition induced by magnetic field and role of magnetic excitations in the heat transport of low-dimensional magnetic materials. The low-temperature heat transport properties of the spin-dimer material with BEC transition, the one-dimensional magnetic material and the organic spin chain material with staggered magnetization are studied. Low-dimensional magnetic materials provides research related to the quantum ground state and the excited state model, the new phase and the unique possibility of competition between quantum fluctuations and thermal fluctuations, so for quasi-one-dimensional magnetic materials research has developed into an independent research. From a theoretical point of view, this research provides a broad platform for a variety of theoretical and computational methods.


Hashing based approximate nearest neighbor search embeds high dimensional data to compact binary codes, which enables efficient similarity search and storage. However, the non-isometry sign() function makes it hard to project the nearest neighbors in continuous data space into the closest codewords in discrete Hamming space. In this work, we revisit the sign() function from the perspective of space partitioning. In specific, we bridge the gap between k-nearest neighbors and binary hashing codes with Shannon entropy. We further propose a novel K-Nearest Neighbors Hashing (KNNH) method to learn binary representations from KNN within the subspaces generated by sign(). Theoretical and experimental results show that the KNN relation is of central importance to neighbor preserving embeddings, and the proposed method outperforms the state-of-the-arts on benchmark datasets.


Chromosomal rearrangements involving the Mixed Lineage Leukemia (MLL) gene are associated with very aggressive forms of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), often refractory to conventional therapies. In particular, patients carrying the translocation t(4;11)(q21;q23) have the worst prognosis among patients with other MLL-associated malignancies. Although it has been largely shown that the MLL-AF4 fusion protein has the capability to up-regulate genes involved in the self-renewal/differentiation balance of the hematopoietic stem cell, the mechanism induced by this oncoprotein is still poorly understood. Previous functional proteomic studies performed in our group identified the molecular partners of the native AF4 protein, the most common MLL translocation partner in infant ALL, and confirmed that this protein is deeply involved in a complex protein network, important for the regulation of the Pol II-dependent transcription. In this study, we cloned in an eukaryotic expression vector the complete cDNA encoding MLL-AF4 and transiently expressed the recombinant protein in Hek293 cells. In order to understand which molecules take part in the aberrant pathway induced by the MLL-AF4 oncoprotein, we aimed to identify some of its molecular interactors, starting from the proteins that are already known to interact with AF4. We showed that MLL-AF4 binds to CdK9 that by interacting with cyclin T1 forms the positive elongation factor (P-TEFb), which is involved in the activation of the Pol II elongation machinery. We also found that MLL-AF4 interacts with CRSP130 and CRSP33, two members of the so-called "Mediator Complex", thus suggesting that MLL-AF4 is involved in the regulation of the Pol II-dependent transcription. Interestingly, we found that MLL-AF4 also interacts with the tyrosine-kinase receptor FGFR2, and with a protein belonging to the family of 14-3-3s (the isoform θ), involved in diverse intracellular pathways. Moreover, we observed down-regulation in the expression of HoxA9, one of the MLL target genes, in the cells co-expressing both recombinant MLL-AF4 and 14-3-3 θ, thus suggesting that this interaction could modulate transcriptional processes induced by MLL-AF4. Elucidating the role of fusion protein interactors such as FGFR2 and 14-3-3 θ is very important for identifying new molecular targets for the therapy of the MLL-AF4-dependent B-cell ALL.


The studies presented in this volume of New Directions for Community Colleges aim to foster a better understanding of the ways in which community colleges provide Latino students with educational access and opportunity. State and federal policy has increasingly looked to the community college to educate Latinos-the largest minority group in the United States-and other students traditionally underrepresented in higher education. Indeed, Latinos enroll in community colleges at rates higher than those for any other racial or ethnic group. Although research has been done to study the influence of various contributors to Latino opportunity, such as immigration policy, language, and academic opportunity, the profound and confounding influence of these factors remains underexplored. This volume provides and underscores the importance of serious scholarship towards this vital set of institutions and their students.


In this work, strong third order nonlinear optical properties exhibited by WS2 layers are presented. Optical Kerr effect was identified as the dominant physical mechanism responsible for these third order optical nonlinearities. An extraordinary nonlinear refractive index together with an important contribution of a saturated absorptive response was observed to depend on the atomic layer stacking. Comparative experiments performed in mono- and few-layer samples of WS2 revealed that this material is potentially capable of modulating nonlinear optical processes by selective near resonant induced birefringence. We envision applications for developing all-optical bidimensional nonlinear optical devices.


Although employment discrimination based on religion was not the primary impetus behind the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VII does prohibit employers from discriminating against employees, former employees, and prospective employees based on their religion. Statistics from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission demonstrate that of the five protected classifications within Title VII, claims of religious discrimination in the workplace lag behind claims based on race, color, sex, and national origin. Statistics also show religion-based claims have been rising over the past several years.One set of beliefs with which courts and the EEOC have had to wrestle when determining the contours of Title VII's prohibition against religion-based discrimination involves white supremacy. Courts and the EEOC have had to determine whether an individual's membership in a white supremacist organization entitles him to Title VII's protection against religion-based discrimination. Although early court opinions ruled against granting Title VII protection to these individuals, members of these groups have become more creative and have achieved at least some success in gaining Title VII protection against religion-based discrimination in the workplace. The Creativity Movement now proclaims on its website that it is a religion and that its members are now protected by federal laws that prohibit discrimination. As a result of creative use of Supreme Court precedent and with the clever structuring of their white supremacist organizations, members of these groups have gained, and can continue to gain, protection from a statute these individuals' intolerant attitudes at least partially caused to be enacted. The Article will analyze and discuss various theories of actionable religion-based discrimination, address the prevalence of religion-based workplace discrimination, and argue that by changing the nature and structure of these groups while staying true to their underlying beliefs, members of white supremacist groups can benefit from Title VII protection.


We propose the following model of Ca2+ mobilization by noradrenaline in vascular smooth muscle. Upon receptor occupation Ca2+ from a labile small intracellular store on the inner plasmalemma is released. This Ca2+ does not function as activator Ca2+ but triggers Ca2+ release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (Ca2+-induced Ca2+ release). Simultaneously Ca2+ from an extracellularly bound store (on the external surface of the plasmalemma) is dislodged, which enters the cell through receptor linked channels. These processes are responsible for the early 'phasic' component of the noradrenaline contraction. In addition, Ca2+ from the free extracellular Ca2+ pool enters through receptor operated channels, supporting the maintained tension development.


The McDonnell-Douglas three-part burden-shifting framework has come under increasing attack in recent years. While policy arguments in favor of eliminating the standard are important, one of the strongest arguments in favor if its demise, is that the standard was adopted without proper regard to the operative text, the legislative history, and the broad policies of Title VII. This Article examines the McDonnell-Douglas framework through four leading models of statutory construction and concludes that a satisfactory statutory justification for the test is lacking. While it arguably may have been appropriate to justify this lapse in the past by claiming that the test was merely an evidentiary standard and could be created through the Supreme Court's supervisory authority without reference to normal principles of statutory construction, this argument is no longer compelling. In recent years, courts have begun to water down or eliminate McDonnell-Douglas' use as an evidentiary standard by juries, and, in the process, weakened the argument for its continued legitimacy.


Abstract Molten salt with dissolved uranium is being considered for the Laser Inertial Confinement Fusion Fission Energy (LIFE) fission blanket as a backup in case a solid-fuel version cannot meet the performance objectives, for example because of radiation damage of the solid materials. Molten salt is not damaged by radiation and therefore could likely achieve the desired high burnup (>99%) of heavy atoms of 238U. A perceived disadvantage is the possibility that the circulating molten salt could lend itself to misuse (proliferation) by making separation of fissile material easier than for the solid-fuel case. The molten salt composition being considered is the eutectic mixture of 73 mol% LiF and 27 mol% UF4, whose melting point is 490°C. The use of 232Th as a fuel is also being studied. (232Th does not produce Pu under neutron irradiation.) The temperature of the molten salt would be ∼550°C at the inlet (60°C above the solidus temperature) and ∼650°C at the outlet. Mixtures of U and Th are being considered. To minimize corrosion of structural materials, the molten salt would also contain a small amount (∼1mol%) of UF3. The same beryllium neutron multiplier could be used as in the solid fuel case; alternatively, a liquid lithium or liquid lead multiplier could be used. Insuring that the solubility of Pu3+ in the melt is not exceeded is a design criterion. To mitigate corrosion of the steel, are fractory coating such as tungsten similar to the first wall facing the fusion source is suggested in the high-neutron-flux regions; and in low-neutron-flux regions, including the piping and heat exchangers, a nickel alloy, Hastelloy, would be used. These material choices parallel those made for the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE) at ORNL. The nuclear performance is better than the solid fuel case. At the beginning of life, the tritium breeding ratio is unity and the plutonium plus 233U production rate is ∼0.6 atoms per 14.1 MeV neutron.


This study examines the subjective experience of discrimination across the adult population in Ireland. The research is based on analysis of the special module on Equality, which was included in the Quarterly National Household Survey in 2004. The survey examines reported discrimination in work, job search, and in seven service domains (e.g. financial services, health services, shops/pubs and restaurants). The results of this study outline the scale and distribution of perceived discrimination in Ireland. It highlights particular social groups and particular social institutions/context in which levels of perceived discrimination are high. People with disabilities, non-Irish nationals and the unemployed reported high levels of work- related discrimination. Those at most risk of discrimination while accessing services were people with disabilities, non-Irish nationals and minority ethnic groups. Women are more likely to report discrimination on gender, marital and family status grounds, while age and nationality were more commonly cited by men as the grounds of discrimination. The majority of those who experienced discrimination took no action in response. In many case the groups most vulnerable to discrimination were least likely to take action. Given the changing nature of Irish society the report argues that it is extremely important that this information is collected on a regular basis so the level and distribution of discrimination can be tracked and changes monitored.


Since its conception in 2017, the Global None in Three (Ni3) Research Centre for the Prevention of Gender Based Violence (GBV) has been working to collect real stories about people's personal experiences of GBV from both victim and perpetrator perspectives. Led by a team of experts
 from across the globe, these real-life experiences have been used to inform the development of a series of serious, prosocial computer games whose narratives, in-game dialogue and characters are based around this empirical data. This article discusses the translation of these stories into
 the games' digital narratives, and explores how their re-telling is fundamental to the success of the games as educational tools for increasing empathy in players and, ultimately, for changing attitudes and behaviours towards GBV. In doing so, it explores the coexistence and fluctuating
 relationship between digital narratives and the spoken word ‐ whose significance might be seen to book-end the None in Three project as a whole, in its development of the game and in the dissemination of its message about preventing gender-based violence.


The emergence of resistant microorganisms and its association with antimicrobial use is widely recognised as a global concern. Therefore, rational and regulated antimicrobial use is essential in both the public and private healthcare sectors in South Africa. A retrospective chart review was conducted of patients who were prescribed antibiotics over a two-month period. Prescriptions were assessed for adherence to the guidelines, either local or international, and/or to drug registration information, as a measure of rational prescribing practice. Accuracy of dose, and the frequency and duration of administration were evaluated, as were microbiologically informed treatment and de-escalation. 28.8% of patients (n = 226) received antibiotics during their intensive care unit (ICU) admission. A clear indication for antibiotic therapy was noted in 58.5% (n = 131) of the patients, of whom 70.2% were prescribed treatment consistent with the guidelines or drug registration information. Doses were deemed to be correct for 91.1% of the sample, microbiological investigations were evident for 61.2% of patients and de-escalation was noted in only 13.1% of the 70.8% of cases where de-escalation was indicated. Antibiotic prescription rates were relatively lower than those described in the international literature on antibiotic use in the ICU. Antibiotic prescription in the absence of indication in 41.1% of patients, the lack of microbiological verification in 38.8% of patients, inaccurate drug choice in 29.8% of the subset for whom antibiotics were indicated and incorrect dosing in 8.9% of the subset necessitates microbiologically informed therapy and compliance with the treatment guidelines.


We theoretically study third harmonic generation in silica microfiber loop resonators wherein the large resonant field strength is exploited to increase the efficiency and reduce the required pump power, with a focus on the influence of loop parameters such as loss and coupling. For a 3 mm length loop, the conversion can reach several percent, that is, 640 times greater than an equivalent straight microfiber, for input powers as low as 100 W. The harmonic signal can be toggled between a high- and low-output state due to hysteresis at higher powers, and the efficiency can be further enhanced if the harmonic light is recirculated and coresonant with the pump.