While 1970s were marked by creation of intermediary (regional) levels of government in Western Europe the wave of administrative reforms reached Eastern Europe in the end of 1980s and beginning of 1990s. Lithuania was not an exception. From 1994 until July, 2010 the public administration system was deconcentrated to County Governors' Administrations and decentralized to local governments in Lithuania. As it was declared in political and legal documents, the reform of County Governors' Administrations abolishment was aimed to improve public administration and decentralize public governance system in Lithuania, but its results were quite controversial. The main aim of this paper is to analyze the reform conducted in Lithuania in 2010s. The main sources of information are semi-structured expert interviews and secondary data. http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ppaa.10.3.641


Abstract The research base for rock climbing has expanded substantially in the past three decades as worldwide interest in the sport has grown. An important trigger for the increasing research attention has been the transition of the sport to a competitive as well as recreational activity and the potential inclusion of sport climbing in the Olympic schedule. The International Rock Climbing Research Association (IRCRA) was formed in 2011 to bring together climbers, coaches and researchers to share knowledge and promote collaboration. This position statement was developed during and after the 2nd IRCRA Congress which was held in Pontresina, in September 2014. The aim of the position statement is to bring greater uniformity to the descriptive and statistical methods used in reporting rock climbing research findings. To date there is a wide variation in the information provided by researchers regarding the climbers' characteristics and also in the approaches employed to convert from climbing grading scales to a numeric scale suitable for statistical analysis. Our paper presents details of recommended standards of reporting that should be used for reporting climber characteristics and provides a universal scale for the conversion of climbing grades to a number system for statistical analysis.


In Quebec and in North-America, there is a common détérioration problem of the reinforced concrete structures in parking garages. The harsh environment surrounding those structures corrodes the steel rebars which is the principal cause of dégradation. However, this problem can be completely eliminated by the use of a non corroding material such as glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP). This master's thesis présents an overview of the properties of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRJP) material and the standards related to their application. Also, the internai punching shear résistance mechanisms of two-way slabs are reviewed. This type of structure is widely used in parking garages. The results of eight two-way slabs reinforced with GFRP bars tested up to punching shear failure are presented in this master's thesis. Moreover, two reference slabs reinforced with steel have also been tested. The test parameters are : (i) the reinforcement type (GFRP or Steel) (ii) the slab thickness (iii) the column dimensions (iv) the reinforcement ratio and; (v) the presence of compressive reinforcement. The slab dimensions are 2.5 m x 2.5 m with a slab thickness of 200 or 350 mm. The results revealed that ail the specimens reinforced with GFRP bars showed a brittle failure similar to the reference specimens reinforced with steel. Furthermore, the GFRP specimens had a similar crack pattern and surface failure than the homologue reference specimens. However, the GFRP specimens showed a normalized punching shear strength of 67% in average of the reference specimens with the same reinforcement ratio. Those results are due to the lower modulus of elasticity of the GFRP bars which is about 25% of the steel. The ACI 440.1R-06 shows a very conservative ratio of the experimental results to the prédiction (Vc,exp/Vc,Pred) of 2.11 which lead to a none optimum and economical design of twoway slabs reinforced with FRP bars. However, the proposed équation in the next CSA-S806 standard shows good agreement with the experimental results with a ratio Vc>eXp/Vc,pred of 1.04 and a COV of 13%. Furthermore, the coefficient of détermination, R , of this équation is 0.95. The experimental results presented in this document have been used in the reconstruction of a parking garage in Quebec City. The Hôtel de ville parking garage is the first field application worldwide to use GFRP bars in a two-way slabs. Keyword: slab-column connection, two-way slab, flat slab, parking garage, punching shear capacity, FRP, glass, reinforced concrete.


Honey bees (Apis mellifera) are facing multiple stressors affecting their lifespan, health and productivity. Among them, Nosema ceranae is an intracellular microsporidian parasite, which plays a major impact on honey bees colonies. However, both efficiency and innocuity of current treatment against N. ceranae are observed, thus raising the urgent need to develop alternative prophylactic and curative strategies. Endogenous microbial communities (i.e. host microbiota) are known to play a major role in disease prevention, and more recently both bacterial and yeast strains issued from gut microbiota were observed to improve hosts resistance against intracellular parasites both in mammals and insect models. The use of probiotics in honey bee nutrition is therefore promising to treat or prevent diseases. Therefore, further investigations are needed to properly select microorganisms with probiotic properties. In an in vivo experimental infection by Nosema ceranae, the probiotic effect of two honeybee gut bacterial strains (Parasaccharibacter apium (PC1 sp.) and (Bacillus sp. (PC2 sp.)), and two broad spectra probiotics (Bactocell® and Levucell SB®) has been measured. Both curative and prophylactic administrations were tested: honey bees infected with N. ceranae and non-infected. For the four probiotic candidates, significant increases of survival probabilities (20-30%) were measured after two weeks of treatment with the administration of 103 CFU/mL in sugar syrup, both in curative and prophylactic treatments. The present study shows that endogenous bacterial strains were at least as much efficient and safe than broad spectra probiotics in increasing survival in the context of experimental infection with N. ceranae. Therefore, taking advantage of beneficial host microbiota properties is a promising avenue to develop efficient and sustainable curative strategies against opportunistic diseases in honey bee colonies.


The proximal tubular brush border membrane type IIa Na/P(i)-cotransporter is an important element in overall phosphate (Pi) homeostasis. Its regulation is tightly associated with membrane retrieval/reinsertion mechanisms. Specific molecular domains are involved in its internalization (predicted third intracellular loop) and in its apical expression (carboxy-terminus). Regulation and apical expression require a correct ('proximal tubular') cellular context and interaction with specific cellular proteins (scaffolding). Basic cotransport function is via a 3 Na+ to 1 P(i)-coupling ratio, also including the possibility of a Na+-leak, and is strongly affected by changes in pH. This function can be assigned to monomeric transporter molecules. The predicted first intracellular and third extracellular loops contribute important functional characteristics. It is suggested that they may form "re-entrant loops" and thereby a "permeation pore." Sequences in this region determine also pH-sensitivity and affinities in P(i)- and in Na+-interaction, respectively.


The formation of heavy Rydberg ion-pair states through electron transfer in collisions between K(np) Rydberg atoms and molecules that attach low-energy electrons is investigated. At low n, collisions with a wide variety of target species can lead to the formation of bound ion-pair states, a small fraction of which (under apropriate conditions) can subsequently dissociate as free ions through internal-to-translational energy transfer. The lifetimes of the ion-pair states can also be influenced by autodetachment of the electron or by neutralization through charge transfer. Two primary methods are employed to investigate the lifetimes of ion-pair states. Measurements of the onsets in the arrival time distribution of the ions provide lifetime information on short time scales (a few microseconds or less) for those ion pairs which undergo dissociation through conversion of internal energy. Additionally, ion pair behavior on longer time scales (> 1 — 2 /xs) can be studied as a function of binding energy through direct field dissociation.


The last decade has witnessed growth in the computational requirements for training deep neural networks. Current approaches (e.g., data/model parallelism, pipeline parallelism) parallelize training tasks onto multiple devices. However, these approaches always rely on specific deep learning frameworks and requires elaborate manual design, which make it difficult to maintain and share between different type of models. In this paper, we propose Auto-MAP, a framework for exploring distributed execution plans for DNN workloads, which can automatically discovering fast parallelization strategies through reinforcement learning on IR level of deep learning models. Efficient exploration remains a major challenge for reinforcement learning. We leverage DQN with task-specific pruning strategies to help efficiently explore the search space including optimized strategies. Our evaluation shows that Auto-MAP can find the optimal solution in two hours, while achieving better throughput on several NLP and convolution models.


As intuitive statisticians, human beings suffer from identifiable biases, cognitive and otherwise. Human beings can also be "noisy," in the sense that their judgments show unwanted variability. As a result, public institutions, including those that consist of administrative prosecutors and adjudicators, can be biased, noisy, or both. Both bias and noise produce errors. Algorithms eliminate noise, and that is important; to the extent that they do so, they prevent unequal treatment and reduce errors. In addition, algorithms do not use mental short-cuts; they rely on statistical predictors, which means that they can counteract or even eliminate cognitive biases. At the same time, the use of algorithms, by administrative agencies, raises many legitimate questions and doubts. Among other things, they can encode or perpetuate discrimination, perhaps because their inputs are based on discrimination, perhaps because what they are asked to predict is infected by discrimination. But if the goal is to eliminate discrimination, properly constructed algorithms nonetheless have a great deal of promise for administrative agencies.


The objective of the research programme has been to investigate the effects of pre-buckling low frequency inelastic cyclic hysteresis upon a range of imperfection sensitive circular hollow section struts. The programme has involved experimental and theoretical studies and computer graphics are widely employed throughout. The subject matter is introduced from a variety of perspectives, phenomenological, historical, theoretical and experimental in Chapter 1, together with an appreciation of therole of the digital computer within the research programme. Experimental factors are initially presented in Chapter 2 whilst the formal testing programme is described in Chapter 3. Original findings are definitively set out in Sections 3.3 and 3.7 wherein the concept of the 'cyclic step' is first introduced, theremaining sections in the chapter providing the necessary supporting data. Theoretical studies are reported in Chapter 4 with the novel moment-thrust-curvature modelling described in Sections 4.2 and 4.3 being of central importance. This modelling enables the formulation of a predictive cyclic strut system effectivelyrequiring of the end user the solution of only a pair of simultaneous equations and yet capable of providing data trends consistent with the experimental findings. Design interpretation together with an overview of the experimental and theoretical studies and their interrelationshipare set out in Chapter 5. A practical design procedure oriented about the effect of a pre-buckling cyclic action phase upon otherwise static strut performance is delineated and anappropriate design chart is provided. Conclusions are drawn with respect to the primary researchfindings in Chapter 6 wherein suggestions are also made regarding possible further studies. An Appendix is included providing the bibliography, nomenclature and respective published work; selected supporting documentation is also presented.


This paper argues that cinema's place in the media and entertainment economy is again being challenged. Abstract Around three decades ago, multi-screen complexes began to transform the business and culture of cinema in Australia. New screens built in new locations and environments encouraged different patterns of distribution and eventually production. Audiences responded and theatrical exhibition revived but as part of a more diverse exhibition landscape where home video and later subscription TV and DVD generated more of the money that flowed back to distributors and filmmakers. Cinema retained its place as the first release medium of choice for most feature filmmakers, especially those operating with big budgets. It still offered a peerless social and cultural space to watch movies and an ideal economic site to begin their commercial exploitation. Over the last few years, the infrastructure of the cinema industry has again been transformed, this time by digital technology. As this report is being finalised, all of Australia's major exhibitors' screens and more than three-quarters of independent exhibitors' screens have been converted to digital projection. By the end of 2013, few movies are expected to be distributed in Australia as film prints. The cinema industry will no longer be a film industry. Filmmakers have long embraced digital technology to help them tell their stories. Theatrical distributors have now supported it to reduce the cost of transporting movies to cinemas. Some exhibitors have welcomed the ability it gives them to improve image and sound quality in their cinemas, to schedule more flexibly and to screen content other than movies. But the digital era has also brought audiences more ways to see movies, many new types of content and novel ways of spending their time. Cinema's place in the media and entertainment economy is again being challenged.


Stable, high-performance operation of a tokamak requires several plasma control problems to be handled simultaneously. Moreover, the complex physics which governs the tokamak plasma evolution must be studied and understood to make correct choices in controller design. In this thesis, the two subjects have been merged, using control solutions as experimental tool for physics studies, and using physics knowledge for developing new advanced control solutions. The TCV tokamak at CRPP-EPFL is ideally placed to explore issues at the interface between plasma physics and plasma control, by combining a state-of-the-art digital real-time control system with a flexible and powerful set of actuators, in particular the electron cyclotron heating and current drive system (ECRH/ECCD). This unique experimental platform has been used to develop and test new control strategies for three important and reactor-relevant tokamak plasma physics instabilities, including the sawtooth, the edge localized mode (ELM) and the neoclassical tearing mode (NTM). These control strategies offer new possibilities for fusion plasma control and at the same time facilitate studies of the physics of the instabilities with greater precision and detail in a controlled environment. The period of the sawtooth crash, a periodic MHD instability in the core of a tokamak plasma, can be varied by localized deposition of ECRH/ECCD near the q = 1 surface, where q is the safety factor. Exploiting this known physical phenomenon, a sawtooth pacing controller was developed which is able to precisely control the time of appearance of the next sawtooth crash. It was also shown that each individual sawtooth period can be controlled in real-time. A similar scheme is applied to H-mode plasmas with type-I ELMs, where it is shown that pacing regularizes the ELM period. The regular, reproducible and therefore predictable sawtooth crashes obtained by the sawtooth pacing controller have been used to study the relationship between sawteeth and NTMs. It is known that post-crash MHD activity can provide the "seed" island for an NTM, which then grows under its neoclassical bootstrap drive. Experiments are shown which demonstrate that the seeding of 3/2 NTMs by long sawtooth crashes can be avoided by preemptive, crash-synchronized EC power injection pulses at the q = 3/2 rational surface location. NTM stabilization experiments in which the ECRH deposition location is moved in real-time with steerable mirrors have shown effective stabilization of both 3/2 and 2/1 NTMs, and have precisely localized the deposition location that is most effective. Studies of current-profile driven destabilization of tearing modes in TCV plasmas with significant amounts of ECCD show a great sensitivity to details of the current profile, but failed to identify a stationary region in the parameter space in which NTMs are always destabilized. This suggests that transient effects intrinsically play a role. Next to instability control, the simultaneous control of magnetic and kinetic plasma profiles is another key requirement for advanced tokamak operation. While control of kinetic plasma profiles around an operating point can be handled using standard linear control techniques, the strongly nonlinear physics of the coupled profiles complicates the problem significantly. Even more, since internal magnetic quantities are difficult to measure with sufficient spatial and temporal resolution —even after years of diagnostic development— routine control of tokamak plasma profiles remains a daunting and extremely challenging task. In this thesis, a model-based approach is used in which physics understanding of plasma current and energy transport is embedded in the control solution. To this aim, a new lightweight transport code has been derived focusing on simplicity and speed of simulation, which is compatible with the demands for real-time control. This code has been named RAPTOR (RApid Plasma Transport simulatOR). In a first-of-its-kind application, the partial differential equation for current diffusion is solved in real-time during a plasma shot in the TCV control system using RAPTOR. This concept is known in control terms as a state observer, and it is applied experimentally to the tokamak current density profile problem for the first time. The real-time simulation gives a physics-model-based estimate of key plasma quantities, to be controlled or monitored in real-time by different control systems. Any available diagnostics can be naturally included into the real-time simulation providing additional constraints and removing measurement uncertainties. The real-time simulation approach holds the advantage that knowledge of the plasma profiles is no longer restricted to those points in space and time where they are measured by a diagnostic, but that an estimate for any quantity can be computed at any time. This includes estimates of otherwise unmeasurable quantities such as the loop voltage profile or the bootstrap current distribution. In a first closed-loop experiment, an estimate of the internal inductance resulting from the real-time simulation is feedback controlled, independently from the plasma central temperature, by an appropriate mix of co- and counter- ECCD. As a tokamak plasma evolves from one state to another during plasma ramp-up or ramp-down, the profile trajectories must stay within a prescribed operational envelope delimited by physics instabilities and engineering constraints. Determining the appropriate actuator command sequence to navigate this operational space has traditionally been a trial-and-error procedure based on experience of tokamak physics operators. A computational technique is developed based on the RAPTOR code which can calculate these trajectories based on the profile transport physics model, by solving an open-loop optimal control problem. The solution of this problem is greatly aided by the fact that the code returns the plasma state trajectory sensitivities to input trajectory parameters, a functionality which is unique to RAPTOR. This information can also be used to construct linearized models around the optimal trajectory, and to determine the active constraint, which can be used for time-varying closed-loop controller design. This physics-model-based approach has shown excellent results and holds great potential for application in other tokamaks worldwide as well as in future devices.


The clinical connections between schizophrenia (SCZ) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have long been recognized. More than a century ago, Bleuler ascribed 4 primary symptoms to the group of disorders he termed "schizophrenia": autism (turning inward to oneself), ambivalence, affective disturbance, and loosening of associations.1 In 1933, Potter described childhood SCZ as including: (1) loss of interest in the environment; (2) dereistic thinking; (3) thought disturbance; (4) difficulties with emotional rapport; (5) decreased or distorted affect; and (6) behavioral alterations, such as markedly increased or decreased activity, perseveration, or stereotypies.2,3 A decade later, when Leo Kanner published his seminal case series, "Autistic disturbances of affective contact,"4 the 11 youth he described were thought by many to be suffering from infantile psychosis. Presenting with social detachment, absence of communicative language, behavioral rigidity, and an interest in objects over people, these children shared many of the symptoms outlined by Potter—an apparent lack of interest in the environment, difficulties with emotional rapport, decreased affect and abnormal behaviors, including perseverations and stereotypies. However, Kanner's cohort differed in one notable way—all had symptom onset within the first 2 years of life.5 This difference in illness onset and course ultimately proved to be the key factor supporting the differentiation of ASD from childhood SCZ, a conceptual shift that occurred gradually over a period of several decades. The demarcation was clarified in the 1980 publication of the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM III), which noted that the lack of psychotic symptoms and prominence of social deficits clearly distinguished ASD from SCZ.6 Thus, ASD moved out from under the umbrella of psychotic disorders and began to be considered as a separate entity.

Although DSM-5 maintains nosologic separation of ASD and SCZ, comparison of the diagnostic criteria for the 2 disorders shows that they have marked similarities in clinical presentation. ASD is defined by 2 major criteria: (1) persistent deficits in social communication, social interactions, social-emotional reciprocity, and communicative behaviors and (2) restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests or activities, which include stereotyped or repetitive movements, behavioral rigidity, odd or intense interests, and abnormally high or low reactivity to sensory stimuli.7 The DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for SCZ require at least 2 of the following symptoms be present: hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech, grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior, and/or negative symptoms.7 Although hallucinations, delusions, and thought (speech) disorder are essential features of SCZ (and are not present in ASD), the negative symptoms are often more impairing, pervasive, and treatment resistant.8 These negative symptoms, which include asociality, alogia, and low levels of emotional expression (also an indicator of impaired nonverbal communication) can be construed more broadly as deficits in social communication and motivation. Thus, the negative symptoms of SCZ share many features in common with the social deficits of ASD. Similarly, grossly disorganized or abnormal motor behavior as described in SCZ includes a number of signs and symptoms consistent with those of ASD Criterion B, such as repeated stereotyped movements, echolalia, unpredictable agitation, and decreased interaction with or interest in one's environment.

Given the shared clinical manifestations of SCZ and ASD, it is not surprising that the 2 disorders co-occur frequently. Nearly 30% of youth diagnosed with childhood onset SCZ in a large NIH cohort had co-morbid ASD,9 and both epidemiologic and retrospective clinical studies suggest an association between ASD diagnosis or childhood autistic traits and later psychotic experiences.10,11 Similar patterns of cognitive deficits have also been noted. For example, studies designed to assess systems for social processes demonstrate that facial recognition and emotion processing are impaired in SCZ12 as well as in ASD.13 Further, both groups have been shown to have deficits in social cueing associated with eye gaze, as well as in performance on theory of mind tasks.14–17 Meta-analyses of SCZ reports suggests that deficits are correlated with negative symptoms and disorganization.18,19

Autism and SCZ also appear to share biological underpinnings that may begin very early in neural development. Whole exome sequencing analyses implicate ASD and SCZ risk genes in the development of deep layer cortical projection neurons in the prefrontal and primary motor-somatosensory cortical (ASD) and dorsolateral and ventrolateral prefrontal cortical (SCZ) regions, respectively.20 A number of neurodevelopmental disorders with known genetic defects are associated with high rates of both ASD and SCZ, including 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome, Shank3 mutations, and duplications at the Williams Syndrome locus (7q11.23), among others.20–22 Epigenetic effects and alterations in copy number variants have been reported to contribute to abnormalities of cerebral cytoarchitecture that have been related to SCZ and ASD.11 In addition, environmental factors, such as advanced paternal age and maternal infection/immune activation during pregnancy, have been reported to increase risk of both ASD and SCZ.23,24

In 1955, Eisenberg and Kanner wrote that early infantile autism was a "total psychobiological disorder," and suggested that it was "probably related generically" to SCZ.5 After more than 5 decades of research and clinical experience, we are beginning to appreciate the veracity of their prediction, and to understand the nature of this relationship. Exploring commonalities between SCZ and ASD, while appreciating salient differences between the 2 disorders, should provide new insights into their etiology, pathophysiology, treatment, and prevention. To forward these efforts, the Schizophrenia Bulletin will provide occasional special features giving emphasis to key similarities and differences between SCZ and ASD and also welcomes high quality reports addressing these issues.


Global asset optimization aims to simultaneously optimize mine production schedules, destination policies and the various processing streams in order to maximize the economic value over the life of a mineral resource supply chain. Conventional mine optimization approaches are incapable of incorporating geological uncertainty and may lead to severe deviations from forecasted production targets. Stochastic optimization models that manage risk in mine design and production scheduling have been developed over the past several years, however these models are often oversimplified, thus limited to provide only a local optimum in terms of the mining complex as a whole. This paper addresses the issue of global optimization of open pit mine production schedules for complex mining supply chains under geological uncertainty. The proposed simulation-optimization framework builds on previous mining supply chain optimization work by permitting extraction decisions to be made simultaneously with material destination policies and processing stream decisions in order to maximize the value of the supply chain. The resulting framework is capable of modelling and efficiently optimizing over the non-linear intricacies that are often present in large mining complexes. The proposed optimizer uses a hybrid of both simulated annealing and particle swarm optimization. The method is tested on a copper-gold deposit and experimental results demonstrate that the optimizer is capable of generating production schedules and destination policies that reduce the risk of meeting production targets, have 14% higher net present value and increase the size of the final pit by 22%.


Abstract-VoIP services are getting more and more popular day by day. In order to meet the users demand for such services irrespective of users location requires wide area wireless coverage .To this extent, wireless mesh networks have been considered as practical and inexpensive solution .In order to improve the performance of VoIP services, techniques like packet aggregation are done . This paper focuses on finding the effect of packet aggregation on various parameters like aggregation delay, end to end delay and MOS etc. Results obtained through simulations done on Qualnet Simulator concludes that packet aggregation is justified upto a certain extent only as after that most of the users get dissatisfied.


In this study, a series of functional peptide-based RAFT agents were designed and synthesized by the solid-phase supported peptide synthesis method. These novel RAFT agents have enabled chemists to make well-defined peptide-polymer conjugates with complicated topological structures. Additionally, our results have shown an unexpected reaction that takes place during these syntheses, and the conversion of a nitrile group to a carboxamide group has been evidently elucidated and unambiguously confirmed.


This paper shows that a hybrid of the sticky-price and sticky-information models of price adjustment is able to deliver a hump-shaped inflation response to monetary shocks without counterfactually implying, as in Mankiw and Reis (2002) or Altig et al. (2005), that individual firms' prices change each quarter (whether they respond or not to the shock). Under the assumption that firms' price-setting decisions are strategically neutral, the inflation response to a transitory shock to the money-supply growth rate is hump-shaped for the hybrid model, whereas it is monotonic for both the sticky-price and sticky information models. If the shock is permanent, then this response is hump-shaped for the sticky-information and the hybrid models, whereas it is flat for the sticky-price model.


Iron deficiency anaemia in infants can cause developmental problems. However, the relationship between iron status and cognitive achievement in older children is less clear. This study was undertaken to investigate the relationship between iron deficiency and cognitive test scores among school aged girls. Quasi random experimental research design was used. School girls aged 8 to 11 years from Banasthali residential school were selected purposively. Haematological assessment included estimation of haemoglobin (Hb), red cell indices, serum iron, total iron binding capacity (TIBC), serum transferrin saturation and serum ferritin. Psychological assessment was conducted to determine intelligence quotient (IQ), intellectual capacity, educational achievement. Among 111 children in the sample, 77% were anaemic. Serum iron, TIBC, transferrin saturation and serum ferritin were significantly lower in anaemic girls when compared with non anaemics. The former had lower IQ, intellectual capacity and educational achievement than those of their non anaemic counterparts. These three parameters had significant correlation (p<0.05) with Hb and serum iron. We demonstrated lower cognitive test scores among iron-deficient anaemic school age girls.


The exploration of a quantum control landscape, which is the physical observable as a function of the control variables, is fundamental for understanding the ability to perform observable optimization in the laboratory. For high control variable dimensions, trajectory-based methods provide a means for performing such systematic explorations by exploiting the measured gradient of the observable with respect to the control variables. This paper presents a practical, robust, easily implemented statistical method for obtaining the gradient on a general quantum control landscape in the presence of noise. In order to demonstrate the method's utility, the experimentally measured gradient is utilized as input in steepest-ascent trajectories on the landscapes of three model quantum control problems: spectrally filtered and integrated second harmonic generation as well as excitation of atomic rubidium. The gradient algorithm achieves efficiency gains of up to approximately three times that of the standard genetic algorithm and, as such, is a promising tool for meeting quantum control optimization goals as well as landscape analyses. The landscape trajectories directed by the gradient should aid in the continued investigation and understanding of controlled quantum phenomena.


Spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) offers great potential for the measurement of ground traffic flows. A SAR with multiple receiving apertures aligned in flight direction repeatedly images the same ground area with a short time lag. This allows for an effective detection of moving ground objects, whose range variation translates into an interferometric phase signal between the receiving channels. The high-resolution German SAR satellite TerraSAR-X offers several ways to create multiple along- track apertures. We exploit this to demonstrate satellite-based traffic-flow measurements using along-track interferometry (ATI) and Displaced Phase Center Array techniques. In this paper, we address the usage of different TerraSAR-X ATI modes for data acquisition and describe an automatic near-real-time processing chain for the extraction of traffic information. The performance of this TerraSAR-X traffic processor is significantly driven by incorporating ap rioriknowledge of road networks. We present examples of automatic traffic detection as well as empirical evalu- ations thereof using different kind of reference data. Index Terms—Along-track interferometry (ATI), synthetic aperture radar (SAR), TerraSAR-X, traffic measurement.


In our research group focusing on resource efficient processes, we explore the waterless supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) technology as a promising sustainable alternative to the traditional textile wet dyeing and water based finishing processes. Already, it is industrially implemented for textile dyeing, in particular for synthetic fabrics, and, being a dry color process it is regarded as only using 1⁄4 of the physical footprint compared to conventional dyeing. This, does not only account for water and energy savings, but also includes advantages such as reduced emissions of harmful effluents, less amount of used dye, no or minimal use of auxiliaries (dispersing agents, carriers and surfactants) and low waste of material. To expand the industrial capabilities of this technology and open up for new business opportunities, our research focuses on textile functionalization in SC-CO2, either by only applying a functional material or to combine dyeing and functionalization of fabric in a single-step process. For polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fabric dyeing (step 1) and functionalization (step 2) in a sequential process where similar processing parameters (high temperature and pressure) was used, it was found that the color was extracted in the second step. The PET dyeing kinetics using SC-CO2 as a solvent depend on the transition in the amorphous regions of the fiber and diffusion properties and solvating power of the SC-CO2 with the dye. Hence, extensive studies on compatibility between fiber, dye and functional compounds include solubility of dye and functional material in SC-CO2, optimization of process parameters (pressure and temperature) and depressurization. This is crucial for understanding the adhesion mechanism between fiber and chemicals, and, particularly for a proper adhesion with a durable functional performance. Furthermore, as SC-CO2 is a good solvent for hydrophobic compounds, nonionics and organic compounds with low molecules weight, there are challenges in modifying conventional compound or using co-solvents. Activities within this domain in our research group stretch between dyeing and functionalization of textiles with end-use properties such as antimicrobial, photochromic, moisture management, water repellency, soil repellency and flame retardant.


poverty and social exclusion continue to be serious challenges across the European union and for health systems in member states. people with mental disorders are at high risk of poverty, stigmatisation and social exclusion. they are also more likely to face physical health problems and to die prematurely. there is evidence that they do not receive the general health care that best responds to their needs. improved access to general health care is therefore essential to minimising disadvantage for people with mental disorders. this policy Brief outlines hurdles of access to health care for people with mental disorders and discusses policy implications.


Abstract In this article, we trace learning across the digital video production process through case studies with four youth media arts organizations (YMAOs) across the United States. We hypothesize that what these organizations share is a series of key moments throughout the production process in which youth must articulate the relationship between the idea they intend to represent in their video and the tools of the digital video medium that afford representation. By highlighting these key moments, we can both describe the core features of the YMAO organizational process and offer a mechanism for tracing participant learning over time. We conclude with implications for teachers and leaders who may be interested in how to support the inclusion of digital production processes into formal instructional spaces.


Polycrystalline BiFeO3 nanoparticles (size 80-120 nm) are prepared by a simple sol-gel technique. Such nanoparticles are very efficient for photocatalytic decomposition of organic contaminants under irradiation from ultraviolet to visible frequencies. The BiFeO3 nanoparticles also demonstrate weak ferromagnetism of about 0.06 mu(B)/Fe at room temperature, in good agreement with theoretical calculations.


This study was undertaken to determine whether coronary blood flow can be regulated in response to coronary arterial occlusions briefer than a single diastole. The possible involvement of metabolic vs. myogenic mechanisms in such regulation was investigated. Eleven conscious dogs with experimentally produced complete heart block, chronically implanted electromagnetic flow probes, and pneumatic occluders on the left circumflex coronary artery were studied. Diastolic coronary occlusions lasting 100 to 400 msec were performed at paced heart rates of 40, 60, and 120 beats/min. At a heart rate of 60 beats/min, a 200-msec occlusion was sufficiently long to produce a significant reactive hyperemic response; 400-msec occlusions resulted in larger responses, while 100-msec occlusions did not generate a discernible response. The onset of reactive hyperemia was delayed from the end of the occlusion until the first post-occlusion systole. The length of this delay could be altered by changing the heart rate or occlusion duration, but no significant response was detected before the first post- occlusion systole. This characteristic of the data is more consistent with a metabolic than with a myogenic mechanism. If the response is metabolic, the data demonstrate that autoregulation of coronary flow by such a mechanism is very rapid, occurring during the first systole in which a flow deficit is detected by the myocardium.


Open access to this title is possible thanks to the generous support of Arcadia, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin. In the 1990s, Los Angeles was home to numerous radical social and environmental eruptions. In the face of several major earthquakes and floods, riots and economic insecurity, police brutality and mass incarceration, some young black Angelenos turned to holy hip hop—a movement merging Christianity and hip hop culture—to "save" themselves and the city. Converting street corners to open-air churches and gangsta rap beats into anthems of praise, holy hip hoppers used gospel rap to navigate complicated social and spiritual realities and to transform the Southland's fractured terrains into musical Zions. Armed with beats, rhymes, and bibles, they journeyed through black Lutheran congregations, prison ministries, African churches, reggae dancehalls, hip hop clubs, Nation of Islam meetings, and Black Lives Matter marches. Zanfagna's fascinating ethnography provides a contemporary and unique view of black LA, offering a much-needed perspective on how music and religion intertwine in people's everyday experiences. "An extraordinary book: a treasure trove of information and a tour de force of original research about an intertextual nexus of music, religion, and social practice." GEORGE LIPSITZ, author of How Racism Takes Place "Zanfagna's intimate and nuanced work outlines what she calls 'geographies of conversion.' She reveals people moving toward 'Zyon', where they might encounter trouble, contradiction, and conflict, but also ecstasy, flight, and freedom. An often surprising, subtly transformative book." JEFF CHANG, author of Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation "Zanfagna graces readers with a deeply engaged and intimately observed unveiling of a Jesus-worshipping West Coast hip hop scene. Through determined, industrious research and wise reflection she provides an exposed view of a pop-savvy form of missionary work that combines social justice motivations with a beat-driven imperative to 'flipping the script(ures).'" GREGORY TATE, musician, and producer, and author of Midnight Lightning: Jimi Hendrix and the Black Experience


Research on post-communist political economy has begun to focus on the interface between business and politics. It is widely agreed that informal networks rather than business associations dominate this interface, but there has been very little systematic research in this area. The
literature tends to assume that a politicised economy entails business-political networks which are structured by parties. Theoretically, this article distinguishes politicisation from party politicisation and argues that the two are unlikely to be found together in a post-communist context. Empirically, this paper uses elite survey data and qualitative interviews to explore networks of businesspeople and politicians in Poland. It finds substantial evidence against the popular idea that Polish politicians have business clienteles clearly separated from each other according to party loyalties. Instead, it argues that these politicians and businesspeople are promiscuous. Since there seems to be little that is unusual about the Polish case, this conclusion has theoretical, methodological, substantive and policy implications for other post-communist countries.


The changes of atmospheric flow patterns related to Arctic Amplification have impacts well beyond the Arctic regional weather and climate system. Here we examine modulations of vertically propagating planetary waves, a major feature of the climate response to Arctic sea ice reduction by comparing the corresponding results of an atmospheric general circulation model with reanalysis data for periods of high and low sea ice conditions. Under low sea ice condition we find enhanced coupling between troposphere and stratosphere starting in November with preferred polar stratospheric vortex breakdowns in February, which then feeds back to the troposphere. The model experiment and ERA‐Interim reanalysis data agree well with respect to temporal and spatial characteristics associated with vertical planetary wave propagation including its precursors. The upward propagating planetary wave anomalies resemble a wave number 1 and 2 pattern depending on region and timing. Since our experimental design only allows influences from sea ice changes and there is a high degree of resemblance between model results and observations, we conclude that sea ice is a main driver of observed winter circulation changes.


Defenders of targeted killings proffer a straightforward elaboration of military necessity in the context of modern technological capabilities and conclude that killing members of terrorist organizations is legal under international law. In this essay, I assert that targeted killings to combat terrorist threats should not be governed predominantly by the law of war but should be synthesized with widely recognized principles of international criminal justice. Targeted killings are now the only aspect of counter-terrorism policy that operates outside constraints of criminal justice and beyond judicial review. That many people are being killed without anything like due process of law undermines the pursuit of strategies to strengthen law enforcement's role in global counter-terrorism. A targeted killing is never not an act of criminal law enforcement and therefore must be governed by a foundational commitment to the primacy of criminal justice in defeating threats of terrorism.


Background: Guided internet-delivered CBT for anxiety disorders has received increasing empirical support, but little is known regarding the role of the therapist. Aims: This study addressed therapist factors in guided internet-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy for anxiety disorders. Method: Data from three controlled trials with a total N of 119 were analyzed with attention to differences between eight therapists. Results: No significant mean level differences between therapists appeared in the dataset. However, one significant intraclass correlation between participants was found, suggesting that the outcome on the Beck Anxiety Inventory might have been influenced by the impact of the individual therapists. Conclusion: The therapist can possibly have some influence on the outcome of guided internet-delivered CBT for anxiety disorders, but studies with more statistical power are needed to establish whether therapist effects are present in this modality of psychological treatment. The present study was underpowered to detect minor therapist effects.


We report general characteristics of on-axis Z-scan transmittance for arbitrary circularly symmetric beams. Some experimental results are presented for a nearly top-hat-shaped beam and for a trimmed Airy beam whose electric field profile is the central portion of an Airy function inside its first zero. The sensitivity of Z-scan method with a trimmed Airy beam for measuring an induced index-of-refraction change is a factor of 1.5 greater than that of a Gaussian beam. Also, it is found that there are some advantages of experimental alignment and numerical convergence for a Z-scan measurement that uses a trimmed Airy beam over one that uses a top-hat beam.


Surveys among wild marine fish have revealed occurrence of viral haemorrhagic septicaemia virus (VHSV) infections in a high number of diverse fish species. In marine aquaculture of rainbow trout, preying on invading wild fish might thus be a risk factor for introduction and adaptation of VHSV and subsequent disease outbreaks. Our objective was to determine whether an oral transmission route for VHSV in rainbow trout exists. Juvenile trout were infected through oral, waterborne and cohabitation transmission routes, using a recombinant virus strain harbouring Renilla luciferase as reporter gene. Viral replication in stomach and kidney tissue was detected through bioluminescence activity of luciferase and qRT-PCR. Replication was detected in both tissues, irrespective of transmission route. Replication patterns, however, differed among transmission routes. In trout infected through oral transmission, replication was detected in the stomach prior to kidney tissue. In trout infected through waterborne or cohabitation transmission, replication was detected in kidney prior to stomach or in both tissues simultaneously. We demonstrate the existence of an oral transmission route for VHSV in rainbow trout. This implies that preying on invading infected wild fish is a risk factor for introduction of VHSV into marine cultures of rainbow trout.


Objective: To assess the mean change in interpalpebral fissure height and marginal reflex distance after brow suspension with autogenous fascia lata sling in patients of ptosis. Methods: This was a Quasi experimental study conducted at Department of Ophthalmology, Mayo Hospital, King Edwards Medical University Lahore, from Jan 2013 to June 2016. Included were the patients who had unilateral or bilateral ptosis with poor levator function (< 5 mm). Informed consent was obtained from all patients after explaining about the research project. Patients were admitted in ward and all of them underwent surgery by a single surgical team. The surgical procedure was performed in supine position under general anesthesia in children and uncooperative patients. Patients were followed at week 4, 8, 12 and 24 to observe vertical interpalpebral fissure height and marginal reflex distance. Results: The mean age of the patients was 9.03 ± 5.26 years. The mean Inter palpebral fissure height (IPFH) was 4.40±0.91 mm and mean MRD was 0.50 ± 1.00 mm before surgery while after surgery it was 7.41±0.76 mm and 3.10 ± 1.50 mm respectively at 04 weeks. The mean IPFH and MRD at 24 weeks postoperatively were 8.43±0.98 mm and 3.60 + 1.50 mm respectively. The mean change in IPFH and MRD at 24th week, were 3.90 ± 0.34 mm and 3.50 ± 1.00 mm. Conclusion: Brow suspension with fascia lata sling is safe and effective technique for correction of ptosis with poor levator function.


Go quietly; a dream when done, should leave no trace that it has lived, except a gleam across the dreamer's face. Countee Cullen. Herbert I. London (1988), dean of the Gallatin Division of New York University, and senior fellow of the Hudson Institute, through a critical investigation of this phenomenon, theorizes about four specific change conditions which he believes must be given credence, especially when viewed in the context of reorganization, an outcome of change. These conditions are: respect for the past, an ability to adapt, confidence in the future, and recognition of the very inevitability of change itself. But London is prudent in his evaluation to recognize that much of change is derivative; and, that developments which have served as leaps of faith into the unknown or as strokes of genius are the sequels of efforts which have traditionally examined the seemingly impossible, and become the bases for achieving the possible. Indeed, it is often felt that in the final analysis, the extent to which the future is viewed as a challenge is, to some degree, the extent to which the control of destiny may derive some of its impetus. This article derives its impetus from an analysis of prevailing circumstances seen as a backdrop to futuristic possibilities. Change: A Stressful Issue in Educational Transformation To some degree, change in education is stressful, because schools are universal institutions charges with the service of children of citizens who want change and those who resist it. It follows therefore, that too many theorists may choose to ignore educational change or accommodate it, as part of their implicit educational duty requiring that help be given to educational institutions and their charges in their crucial need for curricular relevance. Reality presents this challenge. It is what John Dewey, Horace Mann, and William James promulgated in their time. Their best models of education should be duly honored, although not simply by replicating these modalities as created, but by following their example of helping to create forms which are best suited to our own and future times. There is a sense in which the responsibility for educational change must transcend mere rhetoric. It should find its figure and ground in the context of hard, realistic issues which call attention to those underpinnings and support systems that possess the potential for conceptualizing, organizing, and facilitating guided evolutionary transformation. In essence, agents of educational change must bring a seriousness and commitment to what is correctly perceived as intricate public "business" (Crews, 1990). Of course, in thinking about this, it must be clearly understood that educational systems by themselves cannot eliminate ignorance, nor can they single-handedly overcome the dire effects of illiteracy, simply because they are one set of players in a social system that has, in large measure, failed many of its most valuable and vulnerable members, its young. The making of substantial progress towards achieving our national goals for education, whatever they are, will require a national commitment that incorporates all of the players, and all of the young. Such national commitment must first find its underpinnings in moral responsibility. Education as a Moral Responsibility The issue of moral responsibility lies at the heart of United States' values. It remains a fundamental issue in education (Locina, 1982). Brademus (1982) notes that if education is to serve the people, then the knowledgeable must be vigorously engaged in the shaping of public values. Teaching, therefore, becomes more precisely cogent because it presupposes that something of value is to be taught (Tom, 1980). Similarly, educating each individual citizen is inherently moral, because the inequality of status between teacher and student suggests that one has an obligation to promulgate the growth and development of the other through a system of rational procedures (Peters, 1965). …


ABSTRACT Cardona, F.S.; Ferreira, J.C., and Lopes, A.M., 2020. Cost and benefit analysis of climate change adaptation strategies in coastal areas at risk. In: Malvárez, G. and Navas, F. (eds.), Global Coastal Issues of 2020. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 95, pp. 764-768. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. This paper addresses a cost analysis and evaluation of the benefits associated with different climate change adaptation strategies in coastal areas, considering high risk scenarios. For that, a cost analysis of adaptation strategies was carried out over a period of 50 years for Furadouro Beach, Ovar Portugal, a low-lying coastal area with high coastal erosion and frequent overtopping. The results show that cumulative costs of adaptation measures in the combination of defense and accommodation strategies are € 276M, € 164M in accommodation, € 112M in defense and € 75M in retreat. These results are an example of the importance of evaluating adaptation strategies in high-risk areas and show the usefulness of the approach taken as a support to decision making for processes that involve urban management and territorial planning of coastal zones vulnerable to the coastal erosion, wave overtopping and coastal flooding.


Machine learning envisages building models that either classify, predict, cluster or determine the relative relevance of features to a problem and the associations between them. This paper briefy describes how these tasks are relevant to Scientometrics. Through this brief survey of selected tasks, it is observed that most solution approaches in Scientometric literature are built on the strong foundation of understanding and debating in uencing factors and the process of feature engineering, requiring the descriptors to be intuitive and methods used for classication, prediction, etc., to be amenable to interpretation. Recent trends in machine learning, particularly, deep learning methods, however, pose an interesting question: can we build models that automatically determine what features are important and thereby bypass the step of feature engineering? This paper discusses how such techniques could also be harnessed in Scientometrics.


Modern distributed training of machine learning models often suffers from high communication overhead for synchronizing stochastic gradients and model parameters. In this paper, to reduce the communication complexity, we propose double quantization, a general scheme for quantizing both model parameters and gradients. Three communication-efficient algorithms are proposed based on this general scheme. Specifically, (i) we propose a low-precision algorithm AsyLPG with asynchronous parallelism, (ii) we explore integrating gradient sparsification with double quantization and develop Sparse-AsyLPG, (iii) we show that double quantization can be accelerated by the momentum technique and design accelerated AsyLPG. We establish rigorous performance guarantees for the algorithms, and conduct experiments on a multi-server test-bed with real-world datasets to demonstrate that our algorithms can effectively save transmitted bits without performance degradation, and significantly outperform existing methods with either model parameter or gradient quantization.


We introduce an energy resolved electrochemical impedance spectroscopy method to map the electronic density of states (DOS) in organic semiconductor materials. The method consists in measurement of the charge transfer resistance of a semiconductor/electrolyte interface at a frequency where the redox reactions determine the real component of the impedance. The charge transfer resistance value provides direct information about the electronic DOS at the energy given by the electrochemical potential of the electrolyte, which can be adjusted using an external voltage. A simple theory for experimental data evaluation is proposed, along with an explanation of the corresponding experimental conditions. The method allows mapping over unprecedentedly wide energy and DOS ranges. Also, important DOS parameters can be determined directly from the raw experimental data without the lengthy analysis required in other techniques. The potential of the proposed method is illustrated by tracing weak bond defect states induced by ultraviolet treatment above the highest occupied molecular orbital in a prototypical σ-conjugated polymer, poly[methyl(phenyl)silylene]. The results agree well with those of our previous DOS reconstruction by post-transient space-charge-limited-current spectroscopy, which was, however, limited to a narrow energy range. In addition, good agreement of the DOS values measured on two common π-conjugated organic polymer semiconductors, polyphenylene vinylene and poly(3-hexylthiophene), with the rather rare previously published data demonstrate the accuracy of the proposed method.


Background Information from ratings sites are increasingly informing patient decisions related to health care and the selection of physicians. Objective The current study sought to determine the validity of online patient ratings of physicians through comparison with physician peer review. Methods We extracted 223,715 reviews of 41,104 physicians from 10 of the largest cities in the United States, including 1142 physicians listed as "America's Top Doctors" through physician peer review. Differences in mean online patient ratings were tested for physicians who were listed and those who were not. Results Overall, no differences were found between the online patient ratings based upon physician peer review status. However, statistical differences were found for four specialties (family medicine, allergists, internal medicine, and pediatrics), with online patient ratings significantly higher for those physicians listed as a peer-reviewed "Top Doctor" versus those who were not. Conclusions The results of this large-scale study indicate that while online patient ratings are consistent with physician peer review for four nonsurgical, primarily in-office specializations, patient ratings were not consistent with physician peer review for specializations like anesthesiology. This result indicates that the validity of patient ratings varies by medical specialization.


Immigrants supply skills that are in relatively short supply in the U.S. labor market and account for almost half of labor force growth since the mid-1990s. Migrant inflows have been concentrated at the low and high ends of the skill distribution. Large-scale unauthorized immigration has fueled growth of the low-skill labor force, which has had modest adverse fiscal and labor market effects on taxpayers and U.S.-born workers. High-skilled immigration has been beneficial in most every way, fueling innovation and spurring entrepreneurship in the high tech sector. Highly skilled immigrants have had a positive fiscal impact, contributing more in tax payments than they use in public services. Immigration reform appears to be on the horizon, and policies such as a legalization initiative, a guest-worker program and more permanent visas for high-skilled workers would likely be an improvement over the status quo.


The fracture parameters governing the cohesive crack model is obtained through the use of entropic regularization. Specifically, it is employed as a smoothing technique that lends to the solution of a difficult identification problem cast as a mathematical program with equilibrium constraints (MPEC. Results suggest that reformulation of MPEC as a nonlinear programming problem using entropic regularization show promise in the solution of the parameter identification problems considered in this paper.


Following International Accounting Standards (IAS) No. 39, Taiwan implemented the No. 34 and No. 36 Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) that regulate the measurement and disclosure of financial instruments, respectively. Both IAS and Taiwan SFAS allowed companies to "reclassify†their financial assets in order to avoid having to report a huge loss as a result of the market value measurement; however, the standard also allowed some companies to hide huge losses through this reclassification. The empirical results show that, when financial statements are audited by industry specialists and auditors with market knowledge, the level of information disclosure is higher, and the auditor's attitude is more rigorous. However, when the client is particularly important, economic factors interfere with the auditor's attitude toward the client's financial information disclosure.


Future spectrum sharing rules very likely will be based on device environment: indoors or outdoors. For example, the 6 GHz rules created different power regimes for unlicensed devices to protect incumbents: "indoor" devices, subject to lower transmit powers but not required to access an Automatic Frequency Control database to obtain permission to use a channel, and "outdoor" devices, allowed to transmit at higher power but required to do so to determine channel availability. However, since there are no reliable means of determining if a wireless device is indoors or outdoors, other restrictions were mandated: reduced power for client devices and indoor access points that cannot be battery powered, have detachable antennas or be weatherized. These constraints lead to sub-optimal spectrum usage and potential for misuse. Hence, there is a need for robust identification of device environments to enable spectrum sharing. In this paper we study automatic indoor/outdoor classification based on the radio frequency (RF) environment experienced by a device. Using a custom Android app, we first create a labeled data set of a number of parameters of Wi-Fi and cellular signals in various indoor and outdoor environments, and then evaluate the classification performance of various machine learning (ML) models on this data set. We find that tree-based ensemble ML models can achieve greater than 99% test accuracy and F1-Score, thus allowing devices to self-identify their environment and adapt their transmit power accordingly.


Chances are you've experienced at least one company reorganization. Reorgs can be a great way to unlock value: Two-thirds of them deliver at least some performance improvement, and with change accelerating in the business environment, they are becoming more and more common, the authors say. But most reorgs aren't entirely successful: According to a survey conducted at McKinsey, more than 80% fail to deliver the value they are supposed to in the time planned, while 10% cause real damage to the company involved. More important, they can be miserable experiences for employees. Research suggests that reorgs—and the accompanying uncertainty about what the future holds—may cause greater stress and anxiety than layoffs, leading to noticeably reduced productivity in about 60% of cases. That's because the leaders of reorgs don't specify their objectives clearly enough, miss some of the key actions (for example, focusing on reporting lines and forgetting processes and people), or do things in the wrong order (such as deciding on the way forward before assessing the strengths and weaknesses of what they have already). To help maximize the value and minimize the misery of reorgs, the authors have developed a simple five-step process for running them. INSET: Communicating the Reorg. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]


We have examined fragments of the filamentous network underlying the human erythrocyte membrane by high-resolution electron microscopy. Networks were released from ghosts by extraction with Triton X-100, freed of extraneous proteins in 1.5 M NaCl, and collected by centrifugation onto a sucrose cushion. These preparations contained primarily protein bands 1 + 2 (spectrin), band 4.1 and band 5 (actin). The networks were partially disassembled by incubation at 37 degrees C in 2 mM NaPi (pH 7), which caused the preferential dissociation of spectrin tetramers to dimers. The fragments so generated were fractionated by gel filtration chromatography and visualized by negative staining with uranyl acetate on fenestrated carbon films. Unit complexes, which sedimented at approximately 40S, contained linear filaments approximately 7-8 nm diam from which several slender and convoluted filaments projected. The linear filaments had a mean length of 52 +/- 17 nm and a serrated profile reminiscent of F-actin. They could be decorated in an arrowhead pattern with S1 fragments of muscle heavy meromyosin which, incidentally, displaced the convoluted filaments. Furthermore, the linear filaments nucleated the polymerization of rabbit muscle G-actin, predominantly but not exclusively from the fast-growing ends. On this basis, we have identified the linear filaments as F-actin; we infer that the convoluted filaments are spectrin. Spectrin molecules were usually attached to actin filaments in clusters that showed a preference for the ends of the F-actin. We also observed free globules up to 15 nm diam, usually associated with three spectrin molecules, which also nucleated actin polymerization; these may be simple junctional complexes of spectrin, actin, and band 4.1. In larger ensembles, spectrin tetramers linked actin filaments and/or globules into irregular arrays. Intact networks were an elaboration of the basic pattern manifested by the fragments. Thus, we have provided ultrastructural evidence that the submembrane skeleton is organized, as widely inferred from less direct information, into short actin filaments linked by multiple tetramers of spectrin clustered at sites of association with band 4.1.


Within the socio-cultural school of thought, Galperin, was influenced by Vygotsky's theory of mind. Following Vygotsky's argument about the leading role of instruction within the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), Galperin developed an instructional approach, known as Systemic Theoretical Instruction (STI), which encourages the active construction of materialized concepts and their monitored transformation into mental processes in order to foster development. Following from this, the present thesis aimed at investigating a) how knowledge at a conceptual level can be fostered and supported online, b) the affordances of an online (Moodle-based) Pedagogic Unit to potentially foster L2 English online academic training with specific reference to Applied Linguistics terminology (although the findings could be applicable to other disciplines as well) c) the effectiveness of the online scaffolding mechanisms that were developed for each online task and d) the students' views with regards to all the previous.
To this end, this study adopted an exploratory qualitative approach and collected various types of data to support conceptual development among 13 UK based L2 learners who were pursuing postgraduate studies. Importantly, while existing STI investigations have employed mainly qualitative data, the analysis conducted for this study included both quantitative and qualitative methods such as introspection techniques, recorded interviews, pre-post interview tasks, concept-mapping, online Moodle tasks and questionnaires, screen-captures and audio recordings of the online activities.
The findings revealed that the Moodle unit was a suitable environment in fostering the students' conceptual development and that specific scaffolding features and types of tasks have contributed towards this. Furthermore, this study contributes to the growing body of research into the potential role of scaffolding to enhance ZPDs in online environments in order to facilitate the L2 learners' English for Academic Purposes training. It also sheds light into the affordances of STI and online environments to develop the students' academic speaking and reading skills which, ultimately, contribute to overall conceptual development. Finally, it highlights the potential role of verbalisation (through introspection tasks, use of concept maps and oral presentations) as a means of both fostering and assessing conceptual development.


In this paper, the maximum entropy (MaxEnt) algorithm was applied to estimate the current and potential distributions of cork oak (Quercus suber L.) in the Maarmora forest of Morocco to provide a basis for its conservation under climate change conditions in the Mediterranean basin. A total of 1,428 field-based spatial records of cork oak locations were used (altitude and 19 bioclimatic environmental variables) to model the potential distribution of the cork oak. The adjusted model had a good predictive quality (area under the curve=0.81). Precipitation during the wettest quarter of the year, seasonality in precipitation, altitude, and seasonal variations in temperature were the key factors determining the distribution of the cork oak in the Maamora forest. Most areas with currently suitable conditions for cork oak were located in the western and central Maamora forest regions, which enjoy a humid bioclimate and receive significant sea spray from the Atlantic Ocean. Moving away from the ocean, the humidity decreases, and the temperature increases, such that the cork oak faces difficulties in adapting and regenerating. The results can be used to identify the high-priority areas for cork oak restoration and conservation of this species against the expected impact of climate change.


Comment and Summary
The infant hamster appears to be the most sensitive host system thus far devised for detection of naturally occurring strains of Machupo virus. Infected brains also serve as a convenient source of CF antigens which can be employed for provisional grouping of hamster pathogenic isolates. Specific neutralizing antibodies can be measured in WI-26 (or other, vide infra) cell cultures. Nevertheless, epidemiological studies of Machupo and related viruses would be facilitated greatly by discovery of a type-specific hemagglutinin (HA) and by development of a cell culture system at least as sensitive as the infant hamster for recovering virus. An added bonus to such good fortune would be the elaboration of viral CF and HA antigens in such a cell culture.
The properties of Machupo virus here enumerated do not permit accurate classification of the agent within any of the currently recognized vertebrate virus families. Presence of RNA, however, excludes Machupo virus from the adenovirus, pox virus, papovavirus and herpes simplex virus groups. Inactivation by chloroform eliminates picornaviruses and reoviruses from consideration. In Table 2 the known properties of Machupo virus are compared with properties of other infectious agents, to which biologic groups this virus could conceivably belong. The list is not exhaustive but is intended to serve primarily as a departure for discussion and future work. To date, the virus has not been isolated from an arthropod; thus, the main prerequisite for membership in this family eludes us. Some similarities of the pattern of chronic infection established in hamsters to that of LCM virus in mice made this possibility interesting. Cross CF tests, however, did not disclose any relationship with LCM virus. In addition, CF tests with a large number of myxoviruses also were negative. Attempts to recover pleuro-pneumonia-like organisms (PPLO) from hamster brain virus pools were unsuccessful, but a virus pool grown in WI-26 cell culture did yield a PPLO. Although we believe this to be a cultural contaminant, further studies are in progress. Behavior of agents in laboratory animals and cell cultures is variable and of limited use in classification. It appears that definitive classification of Machupo virus must ultimately be resolved by detailed study of virus size and structure.


Title of Document: SPEECH RECOGNITION IN NOISE AND INTONATION RECOGNITION IN PRIMARY-SCHOOL-AGED CHILDREN, AND PRELIMINARY RESULTS IN CHILDREN WITH COCHLEAR IMPLANTS Lauren Ruth Wawroski, Doctor of Audiology, 2008 Directed By: Assistant Professor, Monita Chatterjee, Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences Fundamental frequency (F0), or voice pitch, is an important acoustic cue for speech intonation and is perceived most accurately through the fine spectral resolution of the normal human auditory system. However, relatively little is known about how young children process F0-based speech intonation cues. The fine spectral resolution required for F0 information has also been shown to be beneficial for listening in noise, a skill that normally-hearing children are required to use on a daily basis. While it is known that hearing-impaired adults with cochlear implants are at a disadvantage for intonation recognition and listening in noise following loss of fine spectral structure cues, relatively little is known about how young children with unilateral cochlear implants perform in these situations. The goal of the current study was to quantify how a group of twenty normally-hearing children (6-8 years of age) perform in a listening-in-noise task and in a speech intonation recognition task. These skills were also measured in a small group of 5 children of similar age with unilateral cochlear implants (all implanted prior to the age of five). The cochlear implant participants in this study presumably had reduced spectral information, and it was hypothesized that this would be manifested as performance differences between groups. In the listening-in-noise task, sentence recognition was measured in the presence of a single-talker masker at different signal-to-noise ratios. Results indicated that the participants with cochlear implants achieved significantly lower scores than the normally-hearing participants. In the intonation recognition task, listeners heard re-synthesized versions of a single bisyllabic word ("popcorn") with systematically varying F0 contours, and indicated whether the speaker was "asking" or "telling" (i.e., question-like or statement-like). Both groups of children were able to use the F0 cue to perform the task, and no significant differences between the groups were observed. Although limited in scope, the results suggest that children who receive their cochlear implant before the age of five have significantly more difficulty understanding speech in noise than their normally-hearing peers. However, the two populations appear to be equally able to use F0 cues to determine speech intonation patterns. SPEECH RECOGNITION IN NOISE AND INTONATION RECOGNITION IN PRIMARY-SCHOOL-AGED CHILDREN, AND PRELIMINARY RESULTS IN CHILDREN WITH COCHLEAR IMPLANTS


Social workers, psychologists and psychopharmacologists have devoted little attention to study the direct relationship between drugs and adolescents' aggression. The main objective of this study was therefore to determine the extent of the level of aggressive behavior among adolescents who underwent rehabilitation of drug abuse. This study also sought to find out the relationship between type of drugs used with aggressive behavior among adolescents. Respondents were 200 adolescents from three juvenile Henry Gurney schools in Malaysia who took part in this exploratory cross-sectional survey research design. A set of questionnaire was constructed by the researcher based on the Aggression Questionnaires (AQ) scale. Results showed that the majority of adolescents (95 percent) indicated an aggressive behavior of moderate to high level. The result of the study also found that adolescents who have been using heroin (r = 0.016, p <0.05) and morphine drugs (r = 0.181, p <0.05) showed significant correlation with aggressive behavior. The findings provided evidence for the significant role of the goverment to enhance rehabilitation modules for adolescents involved in drug abuse. Education on how to effectively deal with aggressive behavior among adolescents at risk should be emphasized for building positive behavior among adolescents in order to produce potential young generation in the future.


We study the synchronization of real and nominal variables across four different regions of the world, Asia, Europe, North and South America, covering 32 different countries. Employing a FAVAR framework, we distinguish between global and regional demand and supply shocks and document the relative contributions of these shocks to explaining macroeconomic fluctuations and synchronization. Our results support the decoupling hypothesis advanced in recent business cycle studies and yields new insights regarding the causes of business cycle synchronization. In particular, global supply shocks cause more severe activity fluctuations in European and North American economies than in Asian and South American economies, whereas global demand shocks shift activity in the different regions in opposite directions at longer horizons. Furthermore, demand shocks play a larger role than that found in related studies. Finally, only innovations to the Asian activity and price factors have significant spillover effects on shared global factors, demonstrating the growing importance of Asia in the global economy.


ABSTRACT
Hypertension is a major risk factor of cardiovascular diseases and lead to 20–50% of all deaths. Smoking is one of risk factors for hypertension. Smoking is not only affects the smoker but also the people around them as passive smoker because the toxins components found in mainstream cigarette smoke were also found in environmental tobacco smoke, sometimes in higher concentrations. The purpose of this study was analyzing the effect of secondhand smoke at house on women toward hypertension. The design of the study was case control. The study was conducted at the Health Center Mulyorejo Surabaya. The case populations was all female patients who have hypertension and the control populations was all female patients who did not have hypertension. The numbers of sample were 84 respondents. The sampling technique in this study used systematic random sampling. The dependent variabel was hypertension and the independent variables of this study were the respondents characteristics, passive smoker status, family relationship, the type of cigarette, the number of smoker, the duration of smoke exposure, the number of cigarette consumptions, smoking location, and passive smoker reaction were analyzed by simple logistic regression. The results of this study showed age > 40 years old (CI 95% 1.723–14.256; OR = 4.96) and higher education (CI 95% 0.309–0.807; OR = 0.50) significantly affect the hypertension. Variables of secondhand smoke exposure at house on women had no affects to hypertension. The value of Population Attribute Risk (PAR) from this study was 0.27 which means 27% hypertension can be prevented by eliminating the risk factor of passive smoker. The conclusion of this study found no effect of exposure to secondhand smoke at house on woman toward hypertension, but other studies have demonstrated that passive smoking is a risk factor for hypertension.

Keywords secondhand smoke, hypertension, passive smoker, house, women


The article raises the question about the function of an animal in the philosophical discourses. One can notice that philosophers have neither competence nor intentions to investigate an animal from the viewpoint of a zoologist. However, animality has a critical role in the definition of humanity and in solving the problems of the human world and reality. The chosen philosophers show different aspects of this role. Nietzsche's animal refers to the peculiarity of human moment, time, and historicity. Heidegger's animal refers to the fundamental significance of language and logos in the constitution of the human world. The gaze of Derrida's cat questions well-established anthropological difference, and returns it in form of a question. Lastly, it is maintained that animal is essential not only for the definition of human as a being with some qualitatively different attributes – reason, thought, language, shame, etc. – but also for experience of alterity. In the face of an animal, the human being finds oneself in the environment of logos and has a better understanding of his own world and of himself.


Article history: Received May 12, 2013 Received in revised format 12 September 2013 Accepted 7 October 2013 Available online October 22 2013 In recent years, there has been good progress on information and communication technology influencing businesses with a new emerging concept called customer relationship management (CRM) and it has made significant changes in electronic banking. The primary objective of this paper is to survey electronic banking effects on key CRM components in one of Iranian banks in city of Tehran, Iran. The survey designs a questionnaire and distributes it among some experts in one of selected regions and the results are verified based on t-student and Freedman tests. Results show that all electronic banking services influence on CRM. In addition, that there are no significant differences among effects of electronic services on CRM but each CRM component has different effects on electronic services. In fact, according to freedman test, improving customer relationship process is the most important factor followed by providing appropriate service for each customer, providing appropriate service on appropriate time for each customer and providing appropriate service by appropriate channel for each customer. © 2013 Growing Science Ltd. All rights reserved.


Abstract: Since it began, the Arab spring has been subject to a proliferation of comparisons with 1989, and rightly so. Two decades after the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, we have learned a great deal about regime transitions—lessons that can improve our understanding of events in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) today. Unfortunately, the comparison does not make one optimistic about democracy's near-term prospects there. Those regimes rooted in recent revolutionary struggle often survive even the most severe economic crises or opposition challenges, as did China's rulers in 1989 and Cuba's and North Korea's in the early 1990s. Given the continued dominance of old-regime actors, the weakness of democratic forces, and the current international environment, some form of authoritarianism is likely to dominate the Middle East and North Africa for a long time to come.


Mycobacterium tuberculosis remains one of the world's deadliest killers, with an annual death rate of ∼1.5 million. The medicinal effects of garlic have been well documented, and natural products have been shown to have antimycobacterial activity. The current study evaluated the efficacy of six Allium sativum L. polysulfide mixtures as antimycobacterial agents together with their cytotoxic, immunomodulatory, and hepatoprotective activities. The microtitre PrestoBlue assay was used to determine the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC). Cytotoxicity was evaluated by using peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). Excreted cytokine levels were determined by utilizing an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), by exposing isolated PBMCs to varying concentrations of polysulfide mixtures. Human C3A liver cells were utilized in the hepatoprotective study, to assess the protective effect against the toxicity induced by acetaminophen. Samples with higher amounts of diallyl trisulfide (Sample G4) showed the highest antimycobacterial activity, exhibiting an MIC of 2.5 μg/mL against M. tuberculosis H37Rv. Five samples showed moderate toxicity in PBMC, with G1 showing no toxicity. The selective index of G4 was the highest, with a selectivity index close to one. Two samples, G3 and G6 containing higher amounts of diallyl tetrasulfide and lower amounts of diallyl trisulfide, showed >50% hepatoprotection. This is comparable to a hepatoprotective agent, Silymarin, which showed a hepatoprotective effect of 30% at the tested concentration. Diallyl tetrasulfide showed significant antimycobacterial activity. A combination of higher diallyl tetrasulfide and lower diallyl trisulfide was indicative of hepatoprotective activity.


A peculiar pattern is evident across the stock markets of different countries. In emerging markets, such as Peru and China, all the stocks in the country tend to rise and fall together in the course of ordinary trading. But in developed countries, such as Denmark and Canada, stocks move independently. What seems to determine how independently a country's stock prices move is not the size of its market, the diversification of its economy, the stability of its macroeconomic policy or factors relating to the behaviour of individual firms. Rather, stock prices move more independently in countries that are less corrupt.


Photoelectrochemical (PEC) cells based on semiconductor/liquid interfaces provide a method of converting solar energy to electricity or fuels. Currently, the understanding of semiconductor/liquid interfaces is inferred from experiments and models. Operando ambient-pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (AP-XPS) has been used herein to directly characterize the semiconductor/liquid junction at room temperature under real-time electrochemical control. X-ray synchrotron radiation in conjunction with AP-XPS has enabled simultaneous monitoring of the solid surface, the solid/electrolyte interface, and the bulk electrolyte of a PEC cell as a function of the applied potential, U. The observed shifts in binding energy with respect to the applied potential have directly revealed ohmic and rectifying junction behavior on metallized and semiconducting samples, respectively. Additionally, the non-linear response of the core level binding energies to changes in the applied electrode potential has revealed the influence of defect-derived electronic states on the Galvani potential across the complete cell.


Half of college students drop out without completing a degree. This paper establishes a causal link between college costs and degree completion. I use quasi-experimental methodology to analyze two state scholarship programs. The programs increase the share of the exposed population with a college degree by three percentage points, with stronger effects among women. A cost-benefit analysis indicates that the programs are socially efficient at rates of return to schooling as low as 5 percent. Even with the offer of free tuition, many students continue to drop out, suggesting tuition costs are not the only impediment to college completion.


Unique porous carbon monoliths containing thermally annealed carbon onions, were prepared from a resorcinol formaldehyde precursor rod, containing silica gel acting as a hard template, detonation nanodiamond, and Fe3+ as a graphitisation catalyst. Detonation nanodiamond was converted to carbon onions during controlled pyrolysis under N2, where the temperature cycle reached a maximum of 1250 °C. Thermal characterisation and high resolution electron microscopy have confirmed the graphitisation of nanodiamond, and revealed the resulting quasi-spherical carbon onions with an average particle size of 5.24 nm. The bimodal porous composite contains both macropores (5 μm) and mesopores (10 nm), with a BET surface area of 214 m2 g−1 for a nanodiamond prepared monolith (0.012 wt% nanodiamond in the precursor mixture), approximately twice that of blank monoliths, formed without the addition of nanodiamond, thus providing a new approach to increase surface area of such porous carbon rods. Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy also confirmed an enhanced graphitisation of the monolithic carbon skeleton resulting from the elevated thermal conductivity of the added nanodiamond. TEM imaging has confirmed the nanodiamond remains intact following pyrolysis at temperatures up to 900 °C.


The underlying components of reading comprehension were examined and compared in adolescents who spoke English as their first (LI) or second (L2) language. One-hundred and nine adolescents (55 LI and 54 L2) completed measures of reading comprehension, decoding, vocabulary knowledge, working memory, comprehension strategy use, motivation and print exposure in English. Overall English LI students outperformed English L2 students on measure of reading and language, with English L2 students performing below grade level on measures of comprehension and vocabulary knowledge. Examining models of reading comprehension between groups revealed that vocabulary knowledge is the best predictor of reading comprehension for both groups. In addition, decoding and working memory were significantly related to reading comprehension for English L2 students, while working memory and comprehension strategies were significantly related to reading comprehension for English LI students. Furthermore, vocabulary knowledge mediated the relationship between motivation and print exposure with reading comprehension for English LI students. For English L2 students, the relation between motivation and comprehension was mediated by comprehension strategies. For both groups comprehension strategies mediated the influence of decoding on comprehension. The applicability of using LI models of reading with L2 populations, similarities and differences in the reading comprehension models, and implications for education instruction, are discussed.


A template tracker is a tracker based on matching a pre-initialised view of an object with the object's view in an image sequence. Using an error function, the intensity difference between the template view and the templated region in the image is measured. This error measure is used as the basis for a template alignment algorithm that will adjust the template's pose to more accurately register the template view with the view of the object in the image. Some significant problems present themselves with this simple tracker. Extraneous, or non-object, pixels within the template boundaries can cause bias in the registration of the template. Partial occlusions of the object's view in the image can also cause serious bias in the template's pose. Beyond simple occlusions there are transits of occlusions across an object. Occlusion transits are significant because over time they can occlude the entire object in an incremental fashion. If initially the template view is not completely known this kind of occlusion can easily cause a total tracking failure for an object. In this thesis three enhancements of the basic template tracker are proposed: Ownership Masks, Cooperative Templates, and Evolving Views. Ownership Masks are aimed at eliminating the extraneous pixels from the template view. Cooperative templates are used to separate the intensity probabilities when more than one template covers a pixel. Building upon both Ownership Masks and Cooperative Templates, Evolving Views update the template views when occlusion transits are a problem. With these enhancements we have been able to increase the accuracy of tracking objects where large portions of a template contain background pixels. Also occlusions and some types of unocclusions can be detected and discriminated. Finally, some failures in the basic tracker due to occlusion transits have been overcome.


Introduction: Low back pain (LBP) is the most common symptom associated with degenerative disc disease. Common causes of radicular low back pain are narrowing of the space where nerve roots exit the spine, which can be result of stenosis or disc herniation. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is the key investigation for diagnosis of radicular LBP. Objective: To find the association between radicular low back pain and MRI findings of degenerative disc disease. Materials & Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the Combined Military Hospital (CMH), Dhaka, from January to June 2018. A total of 128 patients with LBP with or without radiculopathy were included in the study. Lumbosacral MRI was carried out in all patients.
Results: One third (34.4%) of the patients had LBP with radiculopathy. A substantial proportion (68%) of patients had history of trauma to back-bone. Majority (97.7%) of the patients had disc degeneration. Approximately 72% had nerve-root compression and over three-quarters (76.6%) had spinal canal stenosis. Radiculopathy was significantly associated with past history of trauma to the back-bone (p < 0.01) and history of loadbearing (p < 0.001). Signs of degenerative disease were evident as Modic changes in 80.5%, disc displacement in 100% and disc herniation in 75%. All degenerative lesions were predominantly found at L4/L5. Highly significant (p <0.001) association of radiculopathy with Modic changes, disc herniation, nerve root compression and spinal canal stenosis was found.
Conclusion: Signs of degenerative disc disease are significantly associated with radicular low back pain.
JAFMC Bangladesh. Vol 17, No 2 (December) 2021: 47-51


Ad hoc networks are very important for scenarios where there is not fixed network infrastructure. These scenarios may appear both in the military and the commercial world. Even though there is much advancement in the area of these networks, the main drawback is that ad hoc networks do not scale well because the existing protocols (e.g., MAC, routing, security) cannot tolerate the dynamics of these networks when their size becomes larger than few decades of nodes(i.e. O(10)). A remedy to this problem is to apply these protocols in hierarchical manner. The hierarchy generation in these dynamic environments can be advantageous since the numerous topological changes can be tolerated easier and the various protocols can perform better when dealing with smaller groups of nodes. This division greatly reduces overall overhead (e.g., routing overhead with n nodes goes from O(n 2 ) to O(nlogn)) and allows protocols to be tuned to more homogenous conditions [1].On the other hand, hierarchy has to be generated carefully in order to be beneficial for the network otherwise it may harm it, because of the imposed maintenance overhead. Towards this objective we have to take into consideration the network environment and design appropriately the hierarchy generation algorithms. The weakness of the existing network clustering algorithms is that they do not take into consideration the dynamics of the network environment, so in cases of increased mobility their overhead may deteriorate network performance instead of improving it. In this paper we present a new class of clustering algorithms, which includes both a centralized and a distributed algorithm. The basic characteristic of these algorithms is that they take into consideration the network dynamics for the generation of robust and efficient clusters. The centralized algorithm generates optimal clusters but can be applied only in slow mobile networks. The distributed algorithm can be applied in highly mobile networks and even though the quality of clusters is lower than the centralized generated ones, the algorithm still presents better scalability and robustness characteristics from the existing distributed algorithms.


Gravity gradients derived from an updated Bouguer anomaly map of Ireland reveal large-scale lineaments, many of which can be related to geological structures and tectonic development. First horizontal derivatives of the anomaly calculated at various azimuths accentuate linear trends in different directions, while the second derivative helps resolve near surface structure. The dominant NE–SW Caledonian-trending lineaments are interpreted as due to fault boundaries and folds in pre-Carboniferous basement and Caledonian fault reactivation during the Variscan Orogeny. Subsidiary NNE–SSW–trending lineaments are present, as well as weaker NW–SE-trending lineaments. The largest negative anomalies are produced by late Caledonian granites and widespread buried granitic rock in the middle to upper crust is proposed. Both exposed and inferred granites appear to be spatially related to intersections of NE–SW- with NNE–SSW- and NW–SE-trending lineaments. The orientation of the dominant gravity trend changes from NE–SW towards ENE–WSW going westwards across Ireland and forms part of a more regional change in the 'Caledonian' gravity fabric recognised throughout the northeast Atlantic region. 'Variscan' E–W gravity trends in the south of Ireland overlay the 'Caledonian' trends. Relationships between gravity lineaments and anomalies support a 'thin-skinned' model for the Variscan cover.